THE    AUTHOR 


MYTHS  AND  LEGENDS 
OF  THE  SIOUX 

...  BY  ... 

MRS.  MARIE  L.  MCLAUGHLIN 

t> 

WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM 
ORIGINAL  DRAWINGS 


BISMARCK  TRIBUNE  COMPANY 

BISMARCK,  N.  D. 

1916 


COPYRIGHT    1916    BY 

MRS.  MARIE  L.  MCLAUGHLIN 


In  loving  memory  of  my  mother, 

MARY  GRAHAM  BUISSON, 

at  'whose  knee  most  of  the  stories 
contained  in  this  little  volume 
fwere  told  to  me,  this  book  is  affec 
tionately  dedicated  :  :  : 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

Dedication   5 

Foreword    7 

The  Forgotten  Ear  of  Corn 1 1 

The  Little  Mice   12 

The  Pet  Rabbit 13 

The  Pet  Donkey 15 

The  Rabbit  and  the  Elk 18 

The  Rabbit  and  the  Grouse  Girls 20 

The  Faithful  Lovers   23 

The  Artichoke  and  the  Muskrat 29 

The  Rabbit,  and  the  Bear  with  the  Flint  Body.  .  31 

-  Story  of  the  Lost  Wife   34 

The  Raccoon  and  the  Crawfish    37 

^Legend  of  Standing  Rock 40 

0  Story  of  the  Peace  Pipe    42 

A   Bashful   Courtship    45 

v  The  Simpleton's  Wisdom   48 

9  Little  Brave  and  the  Medicine  Woman 52 

'The  Bound  Children   56 

The  Signs  of  Corn 64 

Story  of  the  Rabbits    66 

»  How  the  Rabbit  Lost  His  Tail 68 

tfUnktomi  and  the  Arrowheads   77 

tfThe  Bear  and  the  Rabbit  Hunt  Buffalo 80 

The  Brave  Who  Went  on  the  Warpath  Alone  and 

Won  the  Name  of  the  Lone  Warrior 86 

^The    Sioux    Who    Married    the    Crow    Chief's 

Daughter   94 

The  Boy  and  the  Turtles    99 

The  Hermit,  or  the  Gift  of  Corn  101 

The  Mysterious  Butte   104 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS— Continued 

Page 

The  Wonderful  Turtle 108 

-  The  Man  and  the  Oak  113 

Story  of  the  Two  Young  Friends 118 

The  Story  of  the  Pet  Crow   136 

The  "Wasna"   (Pemmican  Man)    and   the   Unk- 

tomi   ( Spider)    142 

The  Resuscitation  of  the  Only  Daughter 145 

The  Story  of  the  Pet  Crane 151 

•White  Plume    156 

•Story  of  Pretty  Feathered  Forehead   170 

/The  Four  Brothers  or  Inyanhoksila  (Stone  Boy)  179 
The  Unktomi    (Spider),   Two  Widows  and  the 

Red  Plums    198 


FOREWORD 

In  publishing  these  "Myths  of  the  Sioux,"  I  deem  it 
proper  to  state  that  I  am  of  one-fourth  Sioux  blood.  My 
maternal  grandfather,  Captain  Duncan  Graham,  a  Scotchman 
by  birth,  who  had  seen  service  in  the  British  Army,  was  one 
of  a  party  of  Scotch  Highlanders  who  in  1811  arrived  in 
the  British  Northwest  by  way  of  York  Factory,  Hudson  Bay, 
to  found  what  was  known  as  the  Selkirk  Colony,  near  Lake 
Winnipeg,  now  within  the  province  of  Manitoba,  Canada. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Lake  Winnipeg  he  proceeded  up  the 
Red  River  of  the  North  and  the  western  fork  thereof  to  its 
source,  and  thence  down  the  Minnesota  River  to  Mendota, 
the  confluence  of  the  Minnesota  and  Mississippi  Rivers, 
where  he  located.  My  grandmother,  Ha-za-ho-ta-win,  was 
a  full-blood  of  the  Medawakanton  Band  of  the  Sioux  Tribe 
of  Indians.  My  father,  Joseph  Buisson,  born  near  Montreal, 
Canada,  was  connected  with  the  American  Fur  Company, 
with  headquarters  at  Mendota,  Minnesota,  which  point  was 
for  many  years  the  chief  distributing  depot  of  the  Ameri 
can  Fur  Company,  from  which  the  Indian  trade  conducted 
by  that  company  on  the  upper  Mississippi  was  directed. 

I  was  born  December  8,  1842,  at  Wabasha,  Minnesota, 
then  Indian  country,  and  resided  thereat  until  fourteen  years 
of  age,  when  I  was  sent  to  school  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis 
consin. 

I  was  married  to  Major  James  McLaughlin  at  Mendota, 
Minnesota,  January  28,  1864,  and  resided  in  Minnesota  until 
July  1,  1871,  when  I  accompanied  my  husband  to  Devils  Lake 
Agency,  North  Dakota,  then  Dakota  Territory,  where  I  re 
mained  ten  years  in  most  friendly  relations  with  the  Indians 
of  that  agency.  My  husband  was  Indian  agent  at  Devils 
Lake  Agency,  and  in  1881  was  transferred  to  Standing  Rock, 
on  the  Missouri  River,  then  a  very  important  agency,  to  take 
charge  of  the  Sioux  who  had  then  but  recently  surrendered 
to  the  military  authorities,  and  been  brought  by  steamboat 
from  various  points  on  the  upper  Missouri,  to  be  perma 
nently  located  on  the  Standing  Rock  reservation. 

Having  been  born  and  reared  in  an  Indian  community, 
I  at  an  early  age  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
Sioux  language,  and  having  lived  on  Indian  reservations  for 
the  past  forty  years  in  a  position  which  brought  me  very 
near  to  the  Indians,  whose  confidence  I  possessed,  I  have, 


therefore,  had  exceptional  opportunities  of  learning  the  leg 
ends  and  folk-lore  of  the  Sioux. 

The  stories  contained  in  this  little  volume  were  told  me 
by  the  older  men  and  women  of  the  Sioux,  of  which  I  made 
careful  notes  as  related,  knowing  that,  if  not  recorded,  these 
fairy  tales  would  be  lost  to  posterity  by  the  passing  of  the 
primitive  Indian. 

The  notes  of  a  song  or  a  strain  of  music  coming  to  us 
through  the  night  not  only  give  us  pleasure  by  the  melody 
they  bring,  but  also  give  us  knowledge  of  the  character  of 
the  singer  or  of  the  instrument  from  which  they  proceed. 
There  is  something  in  the  music  which  unerringly  tells  us 
of  its  source.  I  believe  musicians  call  it  the  "timbre"  of 
the  sound.  It  is  independent  of,  and  different  from,  both 
pitch  and  rhythm ;  it  is  the  texture  of  the  music  itself. 

The  "timbre"  of  a  people's  stories  tells  of  the  qualities 
of  that  people's  heart.  It  is  the  texture  of  the  thought,  inde 
pendent  of  its  form  or  fashioning,  which  tells  the  quality 
of  the  mind  from  which  it  springs. 

In  the  "timbre"  of  these  stories  of  the  Sioux,  told  in 
the  lodges  and  at  the  camp  fires  of  the  past,  and  by  the  fire 
sides  of  the  Dakotas  of  today,  we  recognize  the  very  tex 
ture  of  the  thought  of  a  simple,  grave,  and  sincere  people, 
living  in  intimate  contact  and  friendship  with  the  big  out- 
of-doors  that  we  call  Nature;  a  race  not  yet  understanding 
all  things,  not  proud  and  boastful,  but  honest  and  childlike 
and  fair ;  a  simple,  sincere,  and  gravely  thoughtful  people, 
willing  to  believe  that  there  may  be  in  even  the  everyday 
things  of  life  something  not  yet  fully  understood ;  a  race  that 
can,  without  any  loss  of  native  dignity,  gravely  consider  the 
simplest  things,  seeking  to  fathom  their  meaning  and  to 
learn  their  lesson — equally  without  vain-glorious  boasting  and 
trifling  cynicism ;  an  earnest,  thoughtful,  dignified,  but  simple 
and  primitive  people. 

To  the  children  of  any  race  these  stories  can  not  fail  to 
give  pleasure  by  their  vivid  imaging  of  the  simple  things 
and  creatures  of  the  great  out-of-doors  and  the  epics  of  their 
doings.  They  will  also  give  an  intimate  insight  into  the 
mentality  of  an  interesting  race  at  a  most  interesting  stage 
of  development,  which  is  now  fast  receding  into  the  mists 
of  the  past. 

MARIE  L.  MCLAUGHLIN  (Mrs.  James  McLaughlin). 
McLaughlin,   S.   D.,   May  1,   1913. 


MYTHS  OF  THE   SIOUX 


THE  FORGOTTEN  EAR  OF  CORN 


An  Arika*a  woman  was  once  gathering  corn  from 
the  field  to  store  away  for  winter  use.  She  passed 
from  stalk  to  stalk,  tearing  off  the  ears  and  dropping 
them  into  her  folded  robe.  When  all  was  gathered 
she  started  to  go,  when  she  heard  a  faint  voice,  like 
a  child's,  weeping  and  calling: 

"Oh,  do  not  leave  me !  Do  not  go  away  without 
me." 

The  woman  was  astonished.  "What  child  can  that 
be?"  she  asked  herself.  "What  babe  can  be  lost  in 
the  cornfield  ?" 

She  set  down  her  robe  in  which  she  had  tied  up 
her  corn,  and  went  back  to  search ;  but  she  found 
nothing. 

As  she  started  away  she  heard  the  voice  again : 

"Oh,  do  not  leave  me.  Do  not  go  away  with 
out  me." 

She  searched  for  a  long  time.  At  last  in  one  cor 
ner  of  the  field,  hidden  under  the  leaves  of  the  stalks, 
she  found  one  little  ear  of  corn.  This  it  was  that 
had  been  crying,  and  this  is  why  all  Indian  women 
have  since  garnered  their  corn  crop  very  carefully, 
so  that  the  succulent  food  product  should  not  even 
to  the  last  small  nubbin  be  neglected  or  wasted,  and 
thus  displease  the  Great  Mystery. 


—11— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  LITTLE  MICE 


Once  upon  a  time  a  prairie  mouse  busied  herself 
all  fall  storing  away  a  cache  of  beans.  Every  morn 
ing  she  was  out  early  with  her  empty  cast-off  snake 
skin,  which  she  filled  with  ground  beans  and  dragged 
home  with  her  teeth. 

The  little  mouse  had  a  cousin  who  was  fond  of 
dancing  and  talk,  but  who  did  not  like  to  work.  She 
was  not  careful  to  get  her  cache  of  beans  and  the 
season  was  already  well  gone  before  she  thought  to 
bestir  herself.  When  she  came  to  realize  her  need, 
she  found  she  had  no  packing  bag.  So  she  went  to 
her  hardworking  cousin  and  said: 

''Cousin,  I  have  no  beans  stored  for  winter  and 
the  season  is  nearly  gone.  But  I  have  no  snake  skin 
to  gather  the  beans  in.  Will  you  lend  me  one? 

"But  why  have  you  no  packing  bag?  Where  were 
you  in  the  moon  when  the  snakes  cast  off  their  skins  ?" 

"I  was  here." 

"What  were  you  doing?" 

"I  was  busy  talking  and  dancing." 

"And  now  you  are  punished,"  said  the  other.  "It 
is  always  so  with  lazy,  careless  people.  But  I  will 
let  you  have  the  snake  skin.  And  now  go,  and  by 
hard  work  and  industry,  try  to  recover  your  wasted 
time." 


—12 — 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 


THE  PET  RABBIT 


A  little  girl  owned  a  pet  rabbit  which  she  loved 
dearly.  She  carried  it  on  her  back  like  a  babe,  made 
for  it  a  little  pair  of  moccasins,  and  at  night  shared 
with  it  her  own  robe. 

Now  the  little  girl  had  a  cousin  who  loved  her 
very  dearly  and  wished  to  do  her  honor ;  so  her  cousin 
said  to  herself: 

"I  love  my  little  cousin  well  and  will  ask  her  to 
let  me  carry  her  pet  rabbit  around;"  (for  thus  do 
Indian  women  when  they  wish  to  honor  a  friend; 
they  ask  permission  to  carry  about  the  friend's  babe). 

She  then  went  to  the  little  girl  and  said: 

"Cousin,  let  me  carry  your  pet  rabbit  about  on 
my  back.  Thus  shall  I  show  you  how  I  love  you." 

Her  mother,  too,  said  to  her:  "Oh  no,  do  not  let 
our  little  grandchild  go  away  from  our  tepee." 

But  the  cousin  answered:  "Oh,  do  let  me  carry 
it.  I  do  so  want  to  show  my  cousin  honor."  At  last 
they  let  her  go  away  with  the  pet  rabbit  on  her 
back. 

When  the  little  girl's  cousin  came  home  to  her 
tepee,  some  rough  boys  who  were  playing  about  be 
gan  to  make  sport  of  her.  To  tease  the  little  girl 
they  threw  stones  and  sticks  at  the  pet  rabbit.  At 
last  a  stick  struck  the  little  rabbit  upon  the  head  and 
killed  it. 

When  her  pet  was  brought  home  dead,  the  little 
rabbit's  adopted  mother  wept  bitterly.  She  cut  off  her 

—13— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

hair  for  mourning  and  all  her  little  girl  friends  wailed 
with  her.  Her  mother,  too,  mourned  with  them. 

"Alas!"  they  cried,  "alas,  for  the  little  rabbit. 
He  was  always  kind  and  gentle.  Now  your  child  is 
dead  and  you  will  be  lonesome." 

The  little  girl's  mother  called  in  her  little  friends 
and  made  a  great  mourning  feast  for  the  little  rab 
bit.  As  he  lay  in  the  tepee  his  adopted  mother's  lit 
tle  friends  brought  many  precious  things  and  covered 
his  body.  At  the  feast  were  given  away  robes  and 
kettles  and  blankets  and  knives  and  great  wealth  in 
honor  of  the  little  rabbit.  Him  they  wrapped  in  a 
robe  with  his  little  moccasins  on  and  buried  him  in 
a  high  place  upon  a  scaffold. 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 
THE  PET  DONKEY 

There  was  a  chief's  daughter  once  who  had  a 
great  many  relations  so  that  everybody  knew  she  be 
longed  to  a  great  family. 

When  she  grew  up  she  married  and  there  were 
born  to  her  twin  sons.  This  caused  great  rejoicing 
in  her  father's  camp,  and  all  the  village  women  came 
to  see  the  babes.  She  was  very  happy. 

As  the  babes  grew  older,  their  grandmother  made 
for  them  two  saddle  bags  and  brought  out  a  donkey. 

"My  two  grandchildren,"  said  the  old  lady,  "shall 
ride  as  is  becoming  to  children  having  so  many  re 
lations.  Here  is  this  donkey.  He  is  patient  and 
surefooted.  He  shall  carry  the  babes  in.  the  saddle 
bags,  one  on  either  side  of  his  back." 

It  happened  one  day  that  the  chief's  daughter  and 
her  husband  were  making  ready  to  go  on  a  camping 
journey.  The  father,  who  was  quite  proud  of  his 
children,  brought  out  his  finest  pony,  and  put  the 
saddle  bags  on  the  pony's  back. 

"There,"  he  said,  "my  sons  shall  ride  on  the  pony, 
not  on  a  donkey;  let  the  donkey  carry  the  pots  and 
kettles." 

So  his  wife  loaded  the  donkey  with  the  house 
hold  things.  She  tied  the  tepee  poles  into  two  great 
bundles,  one  on  either  side  of  the  donkey's  back ;  across 
them  she  put  the  travois  net  and  threw  into  it  the 
pots  and  kettles  and  laid  the  skin  tent  across  the  don 
key's  back. 

—15— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 


THE  DONKEY  REFUSED  TO  CARRY  KITCHEN 
UTENSILS 


—16— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

But  no  sooner  done  than  the  donkey  began  to  rear 
and  bray  and  kick.  He  broke  the  tent  poles  and  kicked 
the  pots  and  kettles  into  bits  and  tore  the  skin  tent. 
The  more  he  was  beaten  the  more  he  kicked. 

At  last  they  told  the  grandmother.  She  laughed. 
"Did  I  not  tell  you  the  donkey  was  for  the  children," 
she  cried.  "He  knows  the  babies  are  the  chief's 
children.  Think  you  he  will  be  dishonored  with  pots 
and  kettles?"  and  she  fetched  the  children  and  slung 
them  over  the  donkey's  back,  when  he  became  at  once 
quiet  again. 

The  camping  party  left  the  village  and  went  on 
their  journey.  But  the  next  day  as  they  passed  by 
a  place  overgrown  with  bushes,  a  band  of  enemies 
rushed  out,  lashing  their  ponies  and  sounding  their 
war  whoop.  All  was  excitement.  The  men  bent  their 
bows  and  seized  their  lances.  After  a  long  battle 
the  enemy  fled.  But  when  the  camping  party  came 
together  again — where  were  the  donkey  and  the  two 
babes  ?  No  one  knew.  For  a  long  time  they  searched, 
but  in  vain.  At  last  they  turned  to  go  back  to  the 
village,  the  father  mournful,  the  mother  wailing. 
When  they  came  to  the  grandmother's  tepee,  there 
stood  the  good  donkey  with  the  two  babes  in  the 
saddle  bags. 


—17- 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.       SIOUX 


THE  RABBIT  AND  THE  ELK 


The  little  rabbit  lived  with  his  old  grandmother, 

who  needed  a  new  dress.  "I  will  go  out  and  trap  a 

deer  or  an  elk  for  you,"  he  said.     "Then  you  shall 
have  a  new  dress." 


Y 


RABBIT  TRAPPING  ELK 


When  he  went  out  hunting  he  laid  down  his  bow 
in  the  path  while  he  looked  at  his  snares.  An  elk 
coming  by  saw  the  bow. 

"I  will  play  a  joke  on  the   rabbit,"   said  the  elk 

—18— 


MYTHS.'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

to  himself.  "I  will  make  him  think  I  have  been  caught 
in  his  bow  string."  He  then  put  one  foot  on  the  string 
and  lay  down  as  if  dead. 

By  and  by  the  rabbit  returned.  When  he  saw  the 
elk  he  was  filled  with  joy  and  ran  home  crying: 
"Grandmother,  I  have  trapped  a  fine  elk.  You  shall 
have  a  new  dress  from  his  skin.  Throw  the  old  one 
in  the  fire !" 

This  the  old  grandmother  did. 

The  elk  now  sprang  to  his  feet  laughing.  "Ho, 
friend  rabbit,"  he  called,  "You  thought  to  trap  me ; 
now  I  have  mocked  you."  And  he  ran  away  into  the 
thicket. 

The  rabbit  who  had  come  back  to  skin  the  elk  now 
ran  home  again.  "Grandmother,  don't  throw  your 
dress  in  the  fire,"  he  cried.  But  it  was  too  late.  The 
old  dress  was  burned. 


—19— 


MYTHS 


OF 


THE 


SIOUX 


THE  RABBIT  AND  THE  GROUSE  GIRLS 


The  rabbit  once  went  out  on  the  prairie  in  win 
ter  time.  On  the  side  of  a  hill  away  from  the  wind 
he  found  a  great  company  of  girls  all  with  grey  and 
speckled  blankets  over  their  backs.  They  were  the 


THE  RABBIT  AND  THE  GROUSE  GIRLS 

grouse  girls  and  they  were  coasting  down  hill  on 
a  board.  When  the  rabbit  saw  them,  he  called  out: 
"Oh,  maidens,  that  is  not  a  good  way  to  coast  down 
hill.  Let  me  get  you  a  fine  skin  with  bangles  on  it 
that  tinkle  as  you  slide."  And  away  he  ran  to  the 
tepee  and  brought  a  skin  bag.  It  had  red  stripes  on 

—20— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

it  and  bangles  that  tinkled.  "Come  and  get  inside," 
he  said  to  the  grouse  girls.  "Oh,  no,  we  are  afraid," 
they  answered.  "Don't  be  afraid,  I  can't  hurt  you. 
Come,  one  of  you,"  said  the  rabbit.  Then  as  each 
hung  back  he  added  coaxingly:  "If  each  is  afraid 
alone,  come  all  together.  I  can't  hurt  you  all."  And 
so  he  coaxed  the  whole  flock  into  the  bag.  This  done, 
the  rabbit  closed  the  mouth  of  the  bag,  slung  it  over 
his  back  and  came  home.  "Grandmother,"  said  he,  as 
he  came  to  the  tepee,  "here  is  a  bag  full  of  game. 
Watch  it  while  I  go  for  willow  sticks  to  make  spits." 

But  as  soon  as  the  rabbit  had  gone  out  of  the  tent, 
the  grouse  girls  began  to  cry  out: 

"Grandmother,  let  us  out." 

"Who  are  you?"  asked  the  old  woman. 

"Your  dear  grandchildren,"  they  answered. 

"But  how  came  you  in  the  bag?"  asked  the  old 
woman. 

"Oh,  our  cousin  was  jesting  with  us.     He  coaxed 
us  in  the  bag  for  a  joke.     Please  let  us  out." 

"Certainly,  dear  grandchildren,  I  will  let  you  out," 
said  the  old  woman  as  she  untied  the  bag:  and  lo, 
the  grouse  flock  with  achuck-a-chuck-achuck  flew  up, 
knocking  over  the  old  grandmother  and  flew  out  of 
the  square  smoke  opening  of  the  winter  lodge.  The 
old  woman  caught  only  one  grouse  as  it  flew  up  and 
held  it,  grasping  a  leg  with  each  hand. 

When  the   rabbit  came   home  with  the   spits   she 
called  out  to  him: 

—21— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"Grandson,  come  quick.     They  got  out  but  I  have 
caught   two." 

When  he   saw  what  had  happened  he  was  quite 
angry,  yet  could  not  keep  from  laughing. 

"Grandmother,  you  have  but  one  grouse,"  he  cried, 
"and  it  is  a  very  skinny  one  at  that." 


—22— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  FAITHFUL  LOVERS 


There  once  lived  a  chief's  daughter  who  had  many 
relations.  All  the  young  men  in  the  village  wanted 
to  have  her  for  wife,  and  were  all  eager  to  fill  her 
skin  bucket  when  she  went  to  the  brook  for  water. 

There  was  a  young  mj*n  in  the  village  who  was 
industrious  and  a  good  hunter;  but  he  was  poor  and 
of  a  mean  family.  He  loved  the  maiden  and  when 
she  went  for  water,  he  threw  his  robe  over  her  head 
while  he  whispered  in  her  ear : 

"Be  my  wife.  I  have  little  but  I  am  young  and 
strong.  I  will  treat  you  well,  for  I  love  you." 

For  a  long  time  the  maiden  did  not  answer,  but 
one  day  she  whispered  back. 

"Yes,  you  may  ask  my  father's  leave  to  marry 
me.  But  first  you  must  do  something  noble.  I  belong 
to  a  great  family  and  have  many  relations.  You  must 
go  on  a  war  party  and  bring  back  the  scalp  of  an 
enemy." 

The  young  man  answered  modestly,  "I  will  try  to 
do  as  you  bid  me.  I  am  only  a  hunter,  not  a  warrior. 
Whether  I  shall  be  brave  or  not  I  do  not  know.  But 
I  will  try  to  take  a  scalp  for  your  sake." 

So  he  made  a  war  party  of  seven,,  himself  and 
six  other  young  men.  They  wandered  through  the 
enemy's  country,  hoping  to  get  a  chance  to  strike  a 
blow.  But  none  came,  for  they  found  no  one  of  the 
enemy. 

—23— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

"Our  medicine  is  unfavorable/'  said  their  leader 
at  last.  "We  shall  have  to  return  home." 

Before  they  started  they  sat  down  to  smoke  and 
rest  beside  a  beautiful  lake  at  the  foot  of  a  green 
knoll  that  rose  from  its  shore.  The  knoll  was  cov 
ered  with  green  grass  and  somehow  as  they  looked 
at  it  they  had  a  feeling  that  there  was  something 
about  it  that  was  mysterious  or  uncanny. 

But  there  was  a  young  man  in  the  party  named 
the  Jester,  for  he  was  venturesome  and  full  of  fun. 
Gazing  at  the  knoll  he  said :  "Let's  run  and  jump  on 
its  top." 

"No,"  said  the  young  lover,  "it  looks  mysterious. 
Sit  still  and  finish  your  smoke." 

"Oh,  come  on,  who's  afraid,"  said  the  Jester, 
laughing.  "Come  on  you — come  on !"  and  springing 
to  his  feet  he  ran  up  the  side  of  the  knoll. 

Four  of  the  young  men  followed.  Having  reached 
the  top  of  the  knoll  all  five  began  to  jump  and  stamp 
about  in  sport,  calling,  "Come  on,  come  on,"  to  the 
others.  Suddenly  they  stopped — the  knoll  had  be 
gun  to  move  toward  the  water.  It  was  a  gigantic 
turtle.  The  five  men  cried  out  in  alarm  and  tried  to 
run — too  late !  Their  feet  by  some  power  were  held 
fast  to  the  monster's  back. 

"Help  us — drag  us  away,"  they  cried ;  but  the 
others  could  do  nothing.  In  a  few  moments  the 
waves  had  closed  over  them. 

The  other  two  men,  the  lover  and  his  friend,  went 
on,  but  with  heavy  hearts,  for  they  had  forebodings 
—24— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

of  evil.  After  some  clays,  they  came  to  a  river.  Worn 
with  fatigue  the  lover  threw  himself  down  on  the 
bank. 

"I  will  sleep  awhile,"  he  said,  "for  I  am  wearied 
and  worn  out." 

"And  I  will  go  down  to  the  water  and  see  if  I  can 
chance  upon  a  dead  fish.  At  this  time  of  the  year 
the  high  water  may  have  left  one  stranded  on  the  sea 
shore,"  said  his  friend. 

And  as  he  had  said,  he  found  a  fish  which  he 
cleaned,  and  then  called  to  the  lover. 

"Come  and  eat  the  fish  with  me.  I  have  cleaned 
it  and  made  a  fire  and  it  is  now  cooking." 

"No,  you  eat  it;  let  me  rest,"  said  the  lover. 

"Oh,  come  on." 

"No,  let  me  rest." 

"But  you  are  my  friend.  I  will  not  eat  unless 
you  share  it  with  me." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  lover,  "I  will  eat  the  fish 
with  you,  but  you  must  first  make  me  a  promise.  If 
I  eat  the  fish,  you  must  promise,  pledge  yourself,  to 
fetch  me  all  the  water  that  I  can  drink." 

"I  promise,"  said  the  other,  and  the  two  ate  the 
fish  out  of  their  war-kettle.  For  there  had  been  but 
one  kettle  for  the  party. 

When  they  had  eaten,  the  kettle  was  rinsed  out 
and  the  lover's  friend  brought  it  back  full  of  water. 
This  the  lover  drank  at  a  draught. 

"Bring  me  more,"  he  said. 

—25— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

Again  his  friend  filled  the  kettle  at  the  river  and 
again  the  lover  drank  it  dry. 

"More !"  he  cried. 

"Oh,  I  am  tired.  Cannot  you  go  to  the  river  and 
drink  your  fill  from  the  stream?"  asked  his  friend. 

"Remember  your  promise." 

"Yes,  but  I  am  weary.     Go  now  and  drink." 

"Ek-hey,  I  feared  it  would  be  so.  Now  trouble 
is  coming  upon  us,"  said  the  lover  sadly.  He  walked 
to  the  river,  sprang  in,  and  lying  down  in  the  water 
with  his  head  toward  land,  drank  greedily.  By  and 
by  he  called  to  his  friend. 

"Come  hither,  you  who  have  been  my  sworn  friend. 
See  what  comes  of  your  broken  promise." 

The  friend  came  and  was  amazed  to  see  that  the 
lover  was  now  a  fish  from  his  feet  to  his  middle. 

Sick  at  heart  he  ran  off  a  little  way  and  threw  him 
self  upon  the  ground  in  grief.  By  and  by  he  returned. 
The  lover  was  now  a  fish  to  his  neck. 

"Cannot  I  cut  off  the  part  and  restore  you  by  a 
sweat  bath?"  the  friend  asked. 

"No,  it  is  too  late.  But  tell  the  chief's  daughter 
that  I  loved  her  to  the  last  and  that  I  die  for  her  sake. 
Take  this  belt  and  give  it  to  her.  She  gave  it  to  me 
as  a  pledge  of  her  love  for  me,  and  he  being  then 
turned  to  a  great  fish,  swam  to  the  middle  of  the  river 
and  there  remained,  only  his  great  fin  remaining  above 
the  water. 

The  friend  went  home  and  told  his  story.     There 
was  great  mourning  over  the  death  of  the  five  young 

—26— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

men,  and  for  the  lost  lover.  In  the  river  the  great 
fish  remained,  its 'fin  just  above  the  surface,  and  was 
called  by  the  Indians  "Fish  that  Bars,"  because  it 
bar'd  navigation.  Canoes  had  to  be  portaged  at  great 
labor  around  the  obstruction. 

The  chief's  daughter  mourned  for  her  lover  as 
for  a  husband,  nor  would  she  be  comforted.  "He  was 
lost  for  love  of  me,  and  I  shall  remain  as  his  widow," 
she  wailed. 

In  her  mother's  tepee  she  sat,  with  her  head  cov 
ered  with  her  robe,  silent,  working,  working.  "What 
is  my  daughter  doing,"  her  mother  asked.  But  the 
maiden  did  not  reply. 

The  days  lengthened  into  moons  until  a  year  had 
passed.  And  then  the  maiden  arose.  In  her  hands 
were  beautiful  articles  of  clothing,  enough  for  three 
men.  There  were  three  pairs  of  moccasins,  three  pairs 
of  leggings,  three  belts,  three  shirts,  three  head 
dresses  with  beautiful  feathers,  and  sweet  smelling  to 
bacco. 

"Make  a  new  canoe  of  bark,"  she  said,  which  was 
made  for  her. 

Into  the  canoe  she  stepped  and  floated  slowly  down 
the  river  toward  the  great  fish. 

"Come  back  my  daughter,"  her  mother  cried  in 
agony.  "Come  back.  The  great  fish  will  eat  you." 

She  answered  nothing.  Her  canoe  came  to  the 
place  where  the  great  fin  arose  and  stopped,  its  prow 
grating  on  the  monster's  back.  The  maiden  stepped 
out  boldly.  One  by  one  she  laid  her  presents  on  the 

—27— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

fish's  back,  scattering  the  feathers  and  tobacco  over 
his  broad  spine. 

"Oh,  fish,"  she  cried,  "Oh,  fish,  you  who  were  my 
lover,  I  shall  not  forget  you.  Because  you  were  lost 
for  love  of  me,  I  shall  never  marry.  All  my  life  I 
shall  remain  a  widow.  Take  these  presents.  And 
now  leave  the  river,  and  let  the  waters  run  free,  so 
my  people  may  once  more  descend  in  their  canoes." 

She  stepped  into  her  canoe  and  waited.  Slowly 
the  great  fish  sank,  his  broad  fin  disappeared,  and 
the  waters  of  the  St.  Croix  (Stillwater)  were  free. 


—28— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  ARTICHOKE  AND  THE  MUSKRAT 


On  the  shore  of  a  lake  stood  an  artichoke  with  its 
green  leaves  waving  in  the  sun,  Very  proud  of  itself 
it  was,  and  well  satisfied  with  the  world.  In  the  lake 
below  lived  a  muskrat  in  his  tepee,  and  in  the  even 
ing  as  the  sun  set  he  would  come  out  upon  the  shore 


MUSKRAT  AND  ARTICHOKE 


and  wander  over  the  bank.  One  evening*  he  came 
near  the  place  where  the  artichoke  stood. 

"Ho,  friend,"  he  said,  "you  seem  rather  proud  of 
yourself.  Who  are  you?"  "I  am  the  artichoke," 
answered  the  other,  "and  I  have  many  handsome 
cousins.  But  who  are  you?" 

"I  am  the  muskrat,  and  I,  too,  belong  to  a  large 
—29— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

family.  I  live  in  the  water.  I  don't  stand  all  day  in 
one  place  like  a  stone." 

"If  I  stand  in  one  place  all  day,"  retorted  the  arti 
choke,  "at  least  I  don't  swim  around  in  stagnant 
water,  and  build  my  lodge  in  the  mud." 

"You  are  jealous  of  my  fine  fur,"  sneered  the 
muskrat.  "I  may  build  my  lodge  in  the  mud,  but  I 
always  have  a  clean  coat.  But  you  are  half  buried 
in  the  ground,  and  when  men  dig  you  up,  you  are 
never  clean." 

"And  your  fine  coat  always  smells  of  musk,"  jeered 
the  artichoke. 

"That  is  true,"  said  the  muskrat.  "But  men  think 
well  of  me,  nevertheless.  They  trap  me  for  the  fine 
sinew  in  my  tail;  and  handsome  young  women  bite 
off  my  tail  with  their  white  teeth  and  make  it  into 
thread." 

"That's  nothing,"  laughed  the  artichoke.  "Hand 
some  young  warriors,  painted  and  splendid  with  feath 
ers,  dig  me  up,  brush  me  off  with  their  shapely  hands 
and  eat  me  without  even  taking  the  trouble  to  wash 
me  off." 


—30— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

THE   RABBIT   AND   THE   BEAR   WITH   THE 
FLINT  BODY 


The  Rabbit  and  his  grandmother  were  in  dire 
straits,  because  the  rabbit  was  out  of  arrows.  The 
fall  hunt  would  soon  be  on  and  his  quiver  was  all  but 
empty.  Arrow  sticks  he  could  cut  in  plenty,  but  he 
had  nothing  with  which  to  make  arrowheads. 

"You  must  make  some  flint  arrowheads,"  said 
his  grandmother.  "Then  you  will  be  able  to  kill 
game." 

"Where  shall  I  get  the  flint?"  asked  the  rabbit. 

"From  the  old  bear  chief,"  said  his  old  grand 
mother.  For  at  that  time  all  the  flint  in  the  world 
was  in  the  bear's  body. 

So  the  rabbit  set  out  for  the  village  of  the  Bears. 
It  was  winter  time  and  the  lodges  of  the  bears  were 
set  under  the  shelter  of  a  hill  where  the  cold  wind 
would  not  blow  on  them  and  where  they  had  shelter 
among  the  trees  and  bushes. 

He  came  at  one  end  of  the  village  to  a  hut  where 
lived  an  old  woman.  He  pushed  open  the  door  and 
entered.  Everybody  who  came  for  flint  always  stop 
ped  there  because  it  was  the  first  lodge  on  the  edge 
of  the  village.  Strangers  were  therefore  not  unusual 
in  the  old  woman's  hut,  and  she  welcomed  the  rab 
bit.  She  gave  him  a  seat  and  at  night  he  lay  with 
his  feet  to  the  fire. 

The  next  morning  the   rabbit  went  to  the  lodge 

—31— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

of  the  bear  chief.  They  sat  together  awhile  and 
smoked.  At  last  the  bear  chief  spoke. 

"What  do  you  want,  my  grandson?" 

"I  have  come  for  some  flint  to  make  arrows," 
answered  the  rabbit. 

The  bear  chief  grunted,  and  laid  aside  his  pipe. 
Leaning  back  he  pulled  off  his  robe  and,  sure  enough, 
one  half  of  his  body  was  flesh  and  the  other  half  hard 
flint. 

"Bring  a  stone  hammer  and  give  it  to  our  guest," 
he  bade  his  wife.  Then  as  the  rabbit  took  the  ham 
mer  he  said :  "Do  not  strike  too  hard." 

"Grandfather,  I  shall  be  careful,"  said  the  rab 
bit.  With  a  stroke  he  struck  off  a  little  flake  of  flint 
from  the  bear's  body. 

"Ni-sko-ke-cha ?    So  big?"  he  asked. 

"Harder,  grandson ;  strike  off  bigger  pieces,"  said 
the  bear. 

The  rabbit  struck  a  little  harder. 

"Ni-sko-ke-cha?    So  big?"  he  asked. 

The  bear  grew  impatient.  "No,  no,  strike  off 
bigger  pieces.  I  can't  be  here  all  day.  Tanka  kaksa 
wo !  Break  off  a  big  piece." 

The  rabbit  struck  again — hard!  "Ni-sko-ke-cha?" 
he  cried,  as  the  hammer  fell.  But  even  as  he  spoke 
the  bear's  body  broke  in  two,  the  flesh  part  fell  away 
and  only  the  flint  part  remained.  Like  a  flash  the 
rabbit  darted  out  of  the  hut. 

There  was  a  great  outcry  in  the  village.  Open- 
mouthed,  all  the  bears  gave  chase.  But  as  he  ran  the 
—32— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

rabbit  cried:  "Wa-hin-han-yo  (snow,  snow)  Ota- 
po,  Ota-po — lots  more,  lots  more,"  and  a  great  storm 
of  snow  swept  down  from  the.  sky. 

The  rabbit,  light  of  foot,  bounded  over  the  top  of 


THE  FLINT  BEAR  AND  RABBIT 


the  snow.  The  bears  sunk  in  and  floundered  about 
helpless.  Seeing  this,  the  rabbit  turned  back  and  killed 
them  one  by  one  with  his  club.  That  is  why  we  now 
have  so  few  bears. 


—33— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


STORY  OF  THE  LOST  WIFE 


A  Dakota  girl  married  a  man  who  promised  to 
treat  her  kindly,  but  he  did  not  keep  his  word.  He 
was  unreasonable,  fault-finding,  and  often  beat  her. 
Frantic  with  his  cruelty,  she  ran  away.  The  whole 
village  turned  out  to  search  for  her,  but  no  trace  of 
the  missing  wife  was  to  be  found. 

Meanwhile,  the  fleeing  woman  had  wandered  about 
all  that  day  and  the  next  night.  The  next  day  she 
met  a  man,  who  asked  her  who  she  was.  She  did  not 
know  it,  but  he  was  not  really  a  man,  but  the  chief 
of  the  wolves. 

"Come  with  me,"  he  said,  and  he  led  her  to  a 
large  village.  She  was  amazed  to  see  here  many 
wolves — gray  and  black,  timber  wolves  and  coyotes. 
It  seemed  as  if  all  the  wolves  in  the  world  were  there. 

The  wolf  chief  led  the  young  woman  to  a  great 
tepee  and  invited  her  in.  He  asked  her  what  she  ate 
for  food. 

"Buffalo  meat,"  she  answered. 

He  called  two  coyotes  and  bade  them  bring  what 
the  young  woman  wanted.  They  bounded  away  and 
soon  returned  with  the  shoulder  of  a  fresh-killed  buf 
falo  calf. 

"How  do  you  prepare  it  for  eating?"  asked  the 
wolf  chief. 

"By  boiling,"  answered  the  young  woman. 

Again  he  called  the  two  coyotes.  Away  they 
bounded  and  soon  brought  into  the  tent  a  small  bun- 
—34— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

die.  In  it  were  punk,  flint  and  steel — stolen,  it  may 
be,  from  some  camp  of  men. 

"How  do  you  make  the  meat  ready?"  asked  the 
wolf  chief. 

"I  cut  it  into  slices,"  answered  the  young  woman. 

The  coyotes  were  called  and  in  a  short  time 
fetched  in  a  knife  in  its  sheath.  The  young  woman 
cut  up  the  calf's  shoulder  into  slices  and  ate  it. 

Thus  she  lived  for  a  year,  all  the  wolves  being 
very  kind  to  her.  At  the  end  of  that  time  the  wolf 
chief  said  to  her: 

"Your  people  are  going  off  on  a  buffalo  hunt.  To 
morrow  at  noon  they  will  be  here.  You  must  then 
go  out  and  meet  them  or  they  will  fall  on  us  and  kill 
us." 

The  next  day  at  about  noon  the  young  woman 
went  to  the  top  of  a  neighboring  knoll.  Coming 
toward  her  were  some  young  men  riding  on  their 
ponies.  She  stood  up  and  held  her  hands  so  that 
they  could  see  her.  They  wondered  who  she  was, 
and  when  they  were  close  by  gazed  at  her  closely. 

"A  year  ago  we  lost  a  young  woman;  if  you  are 
she,  where  have  you  been,"  they  asked. 

"I  have  been  in  the  wolves'  village.  Do  not  harm 
them,"  she  answered. 

"We  will  ride  back  and  tell  the  people,"  they 
said.  "Tomorrow  again  at  noon,  we  shall  meet  you." 

The  young  woman  went  back  to  the  wolf  village, 
and  the  next  day  went  again  to  a  neighboring  knoll, 
though  to  a  different  one.  Soon  she  saw  the  camp 
—35— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

coming  in  a  long  line  over  the  prairie.     First  were 
the  warriors,  then  the  women  and  tents. 

The  young  woman's  father  and  mother  were  over 
joyed  to  see  her.  But  when  they  came  near  her  the 
young  woman  fainted,  for  she  could  not  now  bear  the 
smell  of  human  kind.  When  she  came  to  herself  she 
said: 

"You  must  go  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  my  father  and 
all  the  hunters.  Tomorrow  you  must  come  again, 
bringing  with  you  the  tongues  and  choice  pieces  of 
the  kill." 

This  he  promised  to  do;  and  all  the  men  of  the 
camp  mounted  their  ponies  and  they  had  a  great 
hunt.  The  next  day  they  returned  with  their  ponies 
laden  with  the  buffalo  meat.  The  young  woman  bade 
them  pile  the  meat  in  a  great  heap  between  two  hills 
which  she  pointed  out  to  them.  There  was  so  much 
meat  that  the  tops  of  the  two  hills  were  bridged  level 
between  by  the  meat  pile.  In  the  center  of  the  pile 
the  young  woman  planted  a  pole  with  a  red  flag.  She 
then  began  to  howl  like  a  wolf,  loudly. 

In  a  moment  the  earth  seemed  covered  with  wolves. 
They  fell  greedily  on  the  meat  pile  and  in  a  short  time 
had  eaten  the  last  scrap. 

The  young  woman  then  joined  her  own  people. 

Her  husband  wanted  her  to  come  and  live  with 
him  again.  For  a  long  time  she  refused.  However, 
at  last  they  became  reconciled. 


—36— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  RACCOON  AND  THE  CRAWFISH 


Sharp  and  cunning  is  the  raccoon,  say  the  Indians, 
by  whom  he  is  named  Spotted  Face. 

A  crawfish  one  evening  wandered  along  a  river 
bank,  looking  for  something  dead  to  feast  upon.  A 
raccoon  was  also  out  looking  for  something  to  eat. 
He  spied  the  crawfish  and  formed  a  plan  to  catch  him. 

He  lay  down,  on  the  bank  and  feigned  to  be  dead. 
By  and  by  the  crawfish  came  near  by.  "Ho,"  he 
thought,  "here  is  a  feast  indeed ;  but  is  he  really  dead. 
I  will  go  near  and  pinch  him  with  my  claws  and 
find  out." 

So  he  went  near  and  pinched  the  raccoon  on  the 
nose  and  then  on  his  soft  paws.  The  raccoon  never 
moved.  The  crawfish  then  pinched  him  on  the  ribs 
and  tickled  him  so  that  the  raccoon  could  hardly  keep 
from  laughing.  The  crawfish  at  last  left  him.  "The 
raccoon  is  surely  dead,"  he  thought.  And  he  hurried 
back  to  the  crawfish  village  and  reported  his  find  to 
the  chief. 

All  the  villagers  were  called  to  go  down  to  the 
feast.  The  chief  bade  the  warriors  and  young  men 
to  paint  their  faces  and  dress  in  their  gayest  for 
a  dance. 

So  they  marched  in  a  long  line — first  the  war 
riors,  with  their  weapons  in  hand,  then  the  women  with 
their  babies  and  children — to  the  place  where  the 
raccoon  lay.  They  formed  a  great  circle  about  him 
and  danced,  singing: 

—37— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


"We  shall  have  a  great  feast 
"On  the  spotted-faced  beast,  with    soft     smooth 
paws : 

"He  is  dead! 
"He  is  dead! 
"We  shall  dance ! 


THE  RACCOON  AND  CRAWFISH 


"We  shall  have  a  good  time; 

"We  shall  feast  on  his  flesh." 

But  as  they  danced,  the  raccoon  suddenly  sprang 
to  his  feet. 

"Who  is  that  you  say  you  are  going  to  eat?  He 
has  a  spotted  face,  has  he  ?  He  has  soft,  smooth  paws, 

—38— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

has  he?  I'll  break  your  ugly  backs.  I'll  break  your 
rough  bones.  I'll  crunch  your  ugly,  rough  paws." 
And  he  rushed  among  the  crawfish,  killing  them  by 
scores.  The  crawfish  warriors  fought  bravely  and 
the  women  ran  screaming,  all  to  no  purpose.  They 
did  not  feast  on  the  raccoon ;  the  raccoon  feasted 
on  them! 


—39— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


LEGEND  OF  STANDING  ROCK 


A  Dakota  had  married  an  Ankara  woman,  and 
by  her  had  one  child.  By  and  by  he  took  another 
wife.  The  first  wife  was  jealous  and  pouted.  When 
time  came  for  the  village  to  break  camp  she  refused 
to  move  from  her  place  on  the  tent  floor.  The  tent 
was  taken  down  but  she  sat  on  the  ground  with  her 
babe  on  her  back  The  rest  of  the  camp  with  her  hus 
band  went  on. 

At  noon  her  husband  halted  the  line.  "Go  back 
to  your  sister-in-law,"  he  said  to  his  two  brothers. 
"Tell  her  to  come  on  and  we  will  await  you  here. 
But  hasten,  for  I  fear  she  may  grow  desperate  and 
kill  herself." 

The  two  rode  off  and  arrived  at  their  former 
camping  place  in  the  evening.  The  woman  still  sat 
on  the  ground.  The  elder  spoke : 

"Sister-in-law,  get  up.  We  have  come  for  you. 
The  camp  awaits  you." 

She  did  not  answer,  and  he  put  out  his  hand  and 
touched  her  head.  She  had  turned  to  stone ! 

The  two  brothers  lashed  their  ponies  and  came 
back  to  camp.  They  told  their  story,  but  were  not 
believed.  "The  woman  has  killed  herself  and  my 
brothers  will  not  tell  me,"  said  the  husband.  How 
ever,  the  whole  village  broke  camp  and  came  back 
to  the  place  where  they  had  left  the  woman.  Sure 
enough,  she  sat  there  still,  a  block  of  stone. 

The  Indians  were  greatly  excited.    They  chose  out 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

a  handsome  pony,  made  a  new  travois  and  placed  the 
stone  in  the  carrying  net.  Pony  and  travois  were  both 
beautifully  painted  and  decorated  with  streamers  and 
colors.  The  stone  was  thought  "wakan"  (holy),  and 
was  given  a  place  of  honor  in  the  center  of  the  camp. 
Whenever  the  camp  moved  the  stone  and  travois  were 
taken  along.  Thus  the  stone  woman  was  carried  for 
years,  and  finally  brought  to  Standing  Rock  Agency, 
and  now  rests  upon  a  brick  pedestal  in  front  of  the 
Agency  office.  From  this  stone  Standing  Rock 
Agency  derives  its  name. 


—41— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 


STORY  OF  THE  PEACE  PIPE 


Two  young  men  were  out  strolling  one  night  talk 
ing  of  love  affairs.  They  passed  around  a  hill  and 
came  to  a  little  ravine  or  coulee.  Suddenly  they  saw 
coming  up  from  the  ravine  a  beautiful  woman.  She 
was  painted  and  her  dress  was  of  the  very  finest 
material. 

"What  a  beautiful  girl !"  said  one  of  the  young 
men.  "Already  I  love  her.  I  will  steal  her  and  make 
her  my  wife." 

"No,"  said  the  other.  "Don't  harm  her.  She  may 
be  holy." 

The  young  woman  approached  and  held  out  a  pipe 
which  she  first  offered  to  the  sky,  then  to  the  earth 
and  then  advanced,  holding  it  out  in  her  extended 
hands. 

"I  know  what  you  young  men  have  been  saying; 
one  of  you  is  good ;  the  other  is  wicked,"  she  said. 

She  laid  down  the  pipe  on  the  ground  and  at  once 
became  a  buffalo  cow.  The  cow  pawed  the  ground, 
stuck  her  tail  straight  out  behind  her  and  then  lifted 
the  pipe  from  the  ground  again  in  her  hoofs;  imme 
diately  she  became  a  young  woman  again. 

"I  am  come  to  give  you  this  gift,"  she  said.  "It 
is  the  peace  pipe.  Hereafter  all  treaties  and  cere 
monies  shall  be  performed  after  smoking  it.  It  shall 
bring  peaceful  thoughts  into  your  minds.  You  shall 
offer  it  to  the  Great  Mystery  and  to  mother  earth. 

The  two  young  men  ran  to  the  village  and  told 
—42— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


THE  MAIDEN  WHO  GAVE  THE  PIPE  OF  PEACE  TO 
THE  SIOUX  NATION,  AND  WHEN  SHE  DEPART 
ED  SHE  TURNED  INTO  A  GRAY  COW 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

what  they  had  seen  and  heard.  All  the  village  came 
out  where  the  young  woman  was. 

She  repeated  to  them  what  she  had  already  told 
the  young  men  and  added : 

"When  you  set  free  the  ghost  (the  spirit  of  de 
ceased  persons)  you  must  have  a  white  buffalo  cow 
skin." 

She  gave  the  pipe  to  the  medicine  men  of  the  vil 
lage,  turned  again  to  a  buffalo  cow  and  fled  away  to 
the  land  of  buffaloes. 


—44— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


A  BASHFUL  COURTSHIP 


A  young  man  lived  with  his  grandmother.  He  was 
a  good  hunter  and  wished  to  marry.  He  knew  a  girl 
who  was  a  good  moccasin  maker,  but  she  belonged 
to  a  great  family.  He  wondered  how  he  could  win 
her. 

One  day  she  passed  the  tent  on  her  way  to  get 
water  at  the  river.  His  grandmother  was  at  work 
in  the  tepee  with  a  pair  of  old  worn-out  sloppy  moc 
casins.  The  young  man  sprang  to  his  feet.  "Quick, 
grandmother — let  me  have  those  old  sloppy  moccasins 
you  have  on  your  feet !"  he  cried. 

"My  old  moccasins,  what  do  you  want  of  them?" 
cried  the  astonished  woman. 

"Never  mind!  Quick!  I  can't  stop  to  talk,"  an 
swered  the  grandson  as  he  caught  up  the  old  moc 
casins  the  old  lady  had  doffed,  and  put  them  on.  He 
threw  a  robe  over  his  shoulders,  slipped  through  the 
door,  and  hastened  to  the  watering  place.  The  girl 
had  just  arrived  with  her  bucket. 

"Let  me  fill  your  bucket  for  you,"  said  the  young 
man. 

"Oh,  no,  I  can  do  it." 

"Oh,  let  me,  I  can  go  in  the  mud.  You  surely 
don't  want  to  soil  your  moccasins,"  and  taking  the 
bucket  he  slipped  in  the  mud,  taking  care  to  push  his 
sloppy  old  moccasins  out  so  the  girl  could  see  them. 
She  giggled  outright. 

"My,  what  old  moccasins  you  have,"  she  cried. 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  WITH  THE  SLOPPY  MOCCASINS 

WON  THE  HEART  OF  THE  BELLE  OF  THE 

VILLAGE 


—46— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

"Yes,  I  have  nobody  to  make  me  a  new  pair,"  he 
answered. 

"Why  don't  you  get  your  grandmother  to  make 
you  a  new  pair?" 

"She's  old  and  blind  and  can't  make  them  any 
longer.  That's  why  I  want  you"  he  answered. 

"Oh,  you're  fooling  me.  You  aren't  speaking  the 
truth." 

"Yes,  I  am.  If  you  don't  believe — come  with  me 
now!" 

The  girl  looked  down;  so  did  the  youth.  At  last 
he  said  softly: 

"Well,  which  is  it?  Shall  I  take  up  your  bucket, 
or  will  you  go  with  me?" 

And  she  answered,  still  more  softly:  "I  guess  I'll 
go  with  you!" 

The  girl's  aunt  came  down  to  the  river,  wonder 
ing  what  kept  her  niece  so  long.  In  the  mud  she 
found  two  pairs  of  moccasin  tracks  close  together; 
at  the  edge  of  the  water  stood  an  empty  keg. 


—47— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  SIMPLETON'S  WISDOM 


There  was  a  man  and  his  wife  who  had  one  daugh 
ter.  Mother  and  daughter  were  deeply  attached  to 
one  another,  and  when  the  latter  died  the  mother  was 
disconsolate.  She  cut  off  her  hair,  cut  gashes  in  her 
cheeks  and  sat  before  the  corpse  with  her  robe  drawn 
over  her  head,  mourning  for  her  dead.  Nor  would 
she  let  them  touch  the  body  to  take  it  to  a  burying 
scaffold.  She  had  a  knife  in  her  hand,  and  if  anyone 
offered  to  come  near  the  body  the  mother  would  wail : 

"I  am  weary  of  life.  I  do  not  care  to  live.  I 
will  stab  myself  with  this  knife  and  join  my  daughter 
in  the  land  of  spirits." 

Her  husband  and  relatives  tried  to  get  the  knife 
from  her,  but  could  not.  They  feared  to  use  force 
lest  she  kill  herself.  They  came  together  to  see  what 
they  could  do. 

"We  must  get  the  knife  away  from  her,"  they  said. 

At  last  they  called  a  boy,  a  kind  of  simpleton,  yet 
with  a  good  deal  of  natural  shrewdness.  He  was  an 
orphan  and  very  poor.  His  moccasins  were  out  at 
the  sole  and  he  was  dressed  in  wei-zi  (coarse  buffalo 
skin,  smoked). 

"Go  to  the  tepee  of  the  mourning  mother,"  they 
told  the  simpleton,  "and  in  some  way  contrive  to  make 
her  laugh  and  forget  her  grief.  Then  try  to  get  the 
knife  away  from  her." 

The  boy  went  to  the  tent  and  sat  down  at  the  door 
as  if  waiting  to  be  given  something.  The  corpse  lay 

—48— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

in  the  place  of  honor  where  the  dead  girl  had  slept 
in  life.  The  body  was  wrapped  in  a  rich  robe  and 
wrapped  about  with  ropes.  Friends  had  covered  it 
with  rich  offerings  out  of  respect  to  the  dead. 

As  the  mother  sat  on  the  ground  with  her  head 
covered  she  did  not  at  first  see  the  boy,  who  sat  silent. 
But  when  his  reserve  had  worn  away  a  little  he  be 
gan  at  first  lightly,  then  more  heavily,  to  drum  on 
the  floor  with  his  hands.  After  a  while  he  began  to 
sing  a  comic  song.  Louder  and  louder  he  sang 
until  carried  away  with  his  own  singing  he  sprang 
up  and  began  to  dance,  at  the  same  time  gesturing  and 
making  all  manner  of  contortions  with  his  body,  still 
singing  the  comic  song.  As  he  approached  the  corpse 
he  waved  his  hands  over  it  in  blessing.  The  mother 
put  her  head  out  of  the  blanket  and  when  she  saw 
the  poor  simpleton  with  his  strange  grimaces  trying 
to  do  honor  to  the  corpse  by  his  solemn  waving,  and 
at  the  same  time  keeping  up  his  comic  song,  she  burst 
out  laughing.  Then  she  reached  over  and  handed 
her  knife  to  the  simpleton. 

"Take  this  knife,"  she  said.  "You  have  taught 
me  to  forget  my  grief.  If  while  I  mourn  for  the 
dead  I  can  still  be  mirthful,  there  is  no  reason  for 
me  to  despair.  I  no  longer  care  to  die.  I  will  live 
for  my  husband." 

The  simpleton  left  the  tepee  and  brought  the  knife 
to  the  astonished  husband  and  relatives. 

"How  did  you  get  it?  Did  you  force  it  away 
from  her,  or  did  you  steal  it?"  they  said. 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


THE  SIMPLE  BOY  DRIVES  SORROW  AWAY  FROM 
THE  MOURNER 


—50— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"She  gave  it  to  me.  How  could  I  force  it  from  her 
or  steal  it  when  she  held  it  in  her  hand,  blade  upper 
most?  I  sang  and  danced  for  her  and  she  burst  out 
laughing.  Then  she  gave  it  to  me,"  he  answered. 

When  the  old  men  of  the  village  heard  the  or 
phan's  story  they  were  very  silent.  It  was  a  strange 
thing  for  a  lad  to  dance  in  a  tepee  where  there  was 
mourning.  It  was  stranger  that  a  mother  should 
laugh  in  a  tepee  before  the  corpse  of  her  dead  daugh 
ter.  The  old  men  gathered  at  last  in  a  council.  They 
sat  a  long  time  without  saying  anything,  for  they 
did  not  want  to  decide  hastily.  The  pipe  was  filled 
and  passed  many  times.  At  last  an  old  man  spoke. 

"We  have  a  hard  question.  A  mother  has  laughed 
before  the  corpse  of  her  daughter,  and  many  think 
she  has  done  foolishly,  but  I  think  the  woman  did 
wisely.  The  lad  was  simple  and  of  no  training,  and 
we  cannot  expect  him  to  know  how  to  do  as  well  as 
one  with  good  home  and  parents  to  teach  him.  Be 
sides,  he  did  the  best  that  he  knew.  He  danced  to 
make  the  mother  forget  her  grief,  and  he  tried  to 
honor  the  corpse  by  waving  over  it  his  hands." 

"The  mother  did  right  to  laugh,  for  when  one  does 
try  to  do  us  good,  even  if  what  he  does  causes  us 
discomfort,  we  should  always  remember  rather  the 
motive  than  the  deed.  And  besides,  the  simpleton's 
dancing  saved  the  woman's  life,  for  she  gave  up  her 
knife.  In  this,  too,  she  did  well,  for  it  is  always  bet 
ter  to  live  for  the  living  than  to  die  for  the  dead." 

—51- 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

A  LITTLE  BRAVE  AND  THE  MEDICINE 
WOMAN 


A  village  of  Indians  moved  out  of  winter  camp 
and  pitched  their  tents  in  a  circle  on  high  land  over 
looking  a  lake.  A  little  way  down  the  declivity  was 
a  grave.  Choke  cherries  had  grown  up,  hiding  the 
grave  from  view.  But  as  the  ground  had  sunk  some 
what,  the  grave  was  marked  by  a  slight  hollow. 

One  of  the  villagers  going  out  to  hunt  took  a 
short  cut  through  the  choke  cherry  bushes.  As  he 
pushed  them  aside  he  saw  the  hollow  grave,  but 
thought  it  was  a  washout  made  by  the  rains.  But 
as  he  essayed  to  step  over  it,  to  his  great  surprise  he 
stumbled  and  fell.  Made  curious  by  his  mishap,  he 
drew  back  and  tried  again;  but  again  he  fell.  When 
he  came  back  to  the  village  he  told  the  old  men  what 
had  happened  to  him.  They  remembered  then  that 
a  long  time  before  there  had  been  buried  there  a  medi 
cine  woman  or  conjurer.  Doubtless  it  was  her  medi 
cine  that  made  him  stumble. 

The  story  of  the  villager's  adventure  spread  thru 
the  camp  and  made  many  curious  to  see  the  grave. 
Among  others  were  six  little  boys  who  were,  how 
ever,  rather  timid,  for  they  were  in  great  awe  of  the 
dead  medicine  woman.  But  they  had  a  little  play 
mate  named  Brave,  a  mischievous  little  rogue,  whose 
hair  was  always  unkempt  and  tossed  about  and  who 
was  never  quiet  for  a  moment. 
—52— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

"Let  us  ask  Brave  to  go  with  us,"  they  said;  and 
they  went  in  a  body  to  see  him. 

"All  right/'  said  Brave ;  "I  will  go  with  you.  But 
I  have  something  to  do  first.  You  go  on  around  the 
hill  that  way,  and  I  will  hasten  around  this  way,  and 
meet  you  a  little  later  near  the  grave." 

So  the  six  little  boys  went  on  as  bidden  until  they 
came  to  a  place  near  the  grave.  There  they  halted. 

"Where  is  Brave?"  they  asked. 

Now  Brave,  full  of  mischief,  had  thought  to  play 
a  jest  on  his  little  friends.  As  soon  as  they  were  well 
out  of  sight  he  had  sped  around  the  hill  to  the  shore 
of  the  lake  and  sticking  his  hands  in  the  mud  had 
rubbed  it  over  his  face,  plastered  it  in  his  hair,  and 
soiled  his  hands  until  he  looked  like  a  new  risen  corpse 
with  the  flesh  rotting  from  his  bones.  He  then  went 
and  lay  down  in  the  grave  and  awaited  the  boys. 

When  the  six  little  boys  came  they  were  more  tim 
id  than  ever  when  they  did  not  find  Brave;  but  they 
feared  to  go  back  to  the  village  without  seeing  the 
grave,  for  fear  the  old  men  would  call  them  cowards. 

So  they  slowly  approached  the  grave  and  one  of 
them  timidly  called  out : 

"Please,  grandmother,  we  won't  disturb  your 
grave.  We  only  want  to  see  where  you  lie.  Don't 
be  angry." 

At  once  a  thin  quavering  voice,  like  an  old 
woman's,  called  out: 

"Han,  ban,  takoja,  hechetuya,  hechetuya !  Yes, 
yes,  that's  right,  that's  right." 

—53— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


(IS 


THE  LITTLE  BRAVE  WHO  VISITED  THE  GRAVE  OF 

A  MEDICINE  WOMAN,  WITH  SEVERAL 

OTHER  BOYS 


—54— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.       SIOUX 

The  boys  were  frightened  out  of  their  senses,  be 
lieving  the  old  woman  had  come  to  life. 

"Oh,  grandmother,"  they  gasped,  "don't  hurt  us ; 
please  don't,  we'll  go." 

Just  then  Brave  raised  his  muddy  face  and  hands 
up  thru  the  choke  cherry  bushes.  With  the  oozy 
mud  dripping  from  his  features  he  looked  like  some 
very  witch  just  raised  from  the  grave.  The  boys 
screamed  outright.  One  fainted.  The  rest  ran  yell 
ing  up  the  hill  to  the  village,  where  each  broke  at 
once  for  his  mother's  tepee. 

As  all  the  tents  in  a  Dakota  camping  circle  face 
the  center,  the  boys  as  they  came  tearing  into  camp 
were  in  plain  view  from  the  tepees.  Hearing  the 
screaming,  every  woman  in  camp  ran  to  her  tepee 
door  to  see  what  had  happened.  Just  then  little 
Brave,  as  badly  scared  as  the  rest,  came  rushing  in 
after  them,  his  hair  on  end  and  covered  with  mud  and 
crying  out,  all  forgetful  of  his  appearance : 

"It's  me,  it's  me !" 

The  women  yelped  and  bolted  in  terror  from  the 
village.  Brave  dashed  into  his  mother's  tepee,  scaring 
her  out  of  her  wits.  Dropping  pots  and  kettles,  she 
tumbled  out  of  the  tent  to  run  screaming-  with  the 
rest.  Nor  would  a  single  villager  come  near  poor 
little  Brave  until  he  had  gone  down  to  the  lake  and 
washed  himself. 


—55— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 


THE  BOUND  CHILDREN 


There  once  lived  a  widow  with  two  children — 
the  elder  a  daughter  and  the  younger  a  son.  The 
widow  went  in  mourning  for  her  husband  a  longtime. 
She  cut  off  her  hair,  let  her  dress  lie  untidy  on  her 
body  and  kept  her  face  unpainted  and  unwashed. 

There  lived  in  the  same  village  a  great  chief.  He 
had  one  son  just  come  old  enough  to  marry.  The 
chief  had  it  known  that  he  wished  his  son  to  take  a 
wife,  and  all  of  the  young  women  in  the  village  were 
eager  to  marry  the  young  man.  However,  he  was 
pleased  with  none  of  them. 

Now  the  widow  thought,  "I  am  tired  of  mourn 
ing  for  my  husband  and  caring  for  my  children. 
Perhaps  if  I  lay  aside  my  mourning  and  paint  my 
self  red,  the  chief's  son  may  marry  me/' 

So  she  slipped  away  from  her  two  children,  stole 
down  to  the  river  and  made  a  bathing  place  thru 
the  ice.  When  she  had  washed  away  all  signs  of  mourn 
ing,  she  painted  and  decked  herself  and  went  to  the 
chief's  tepee.  When  his  son  saw  her,  he  loved  her, 
and  a  feast  was  made  in  honor  of  her  wedding. 

When  the  widow's  daughter  found  herself  for 
saken,  she  wept  bitterly.  After  a  clay  or  two  she 
took  her  little  brother  in  her  arms  and  went  to  the 
tepee  of  an  old  woman  who  lived  at  one  end  of  the 
village.  The  old  woman's  tumble  down  tepee  was 
of  bark  and  her  dress  and  clothing  was  of  old  smoke- 

—56— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

dried  tent  cover.  But  she  was  kind  to  the  two  waifs 
and  took  them  in  willingly. 

The  little  girl  was  eager  to  find  her  mother.  The 
old  woman  said  to  her :  "I  suspect  your  mother  has 
painted  her  face  red.  Do  not  try  to  find  her.  If  the 
chief's  son  marries  her  she  will  not  want  to  be  bur 
dened  with  you." 

The  old  woman  was  right.  The  girl  went  down 
to  the  river,  and  sure  enough  found  a  hole  cut  in 
the  ice  and  about  it  lay  the  filth  that  the  mother  had 
washed  from  her  body.  The  girl  gathered  up  the 
filth  and  went  on.  By  and  by  she  came  to  a  second 
hole  in  the  ice.  Here  too  was  filth,  but  not  so  much 
as  at  the  previous  place.  At  the  third  hole  the  ice 
was  clean. 

The  girl  knew  now  that  her  mother  had  painted 
her  face  red.  She  went  at  once  to  the  chief's  tepee, 
raised  the  door  flap  and  went  in.  There  sat  her 
mother  with  the  chief's  son  at  their  wedding  feast. 

The  girl  walked  up  to  her  mother  and  hurled  the 
filth  in  her  mother's  face. 

"There,"  she  cried,  "you  who  forsake  your  helpless 
children  and  forget  your  husband,  take  that!" 

And  at  once  her  mother  became  a  hideous  old 
woman. 

The  girl  then  went  back  to  the  lodge  of  the  old 
woman,  leaving  the  camp  in  an  uproar.  The  chief 
soon  sent  some  young  warriors  to  seize  the  girl  and 
her  brother,  and  they  were  brought  to  his  tent.  He 
was  furious  with  anger. 

—57— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

"Let  the  children  be  bound  with  lariats  wrapped 
about  their  bodies  and  let  them  be  left  to  starve.  Our 
camp  will  move  on,"  he  said.  The  chief's  son  did 
not  put  away  his  wife,  hoping  she  might  be  cured  in 
some  way  and  grow  young  again. 

Everybody  in  camp  now  got  ready  to  move;  but 
the  old  woman  came  close  to  the  girl  and  said : 

"In  my  old  tepee  I  have  dug  a  hole  and  buried 
a  pot  with  punk  and  steel  and  flint  and  packs  of 
dried  meat.  They  will  tie  you  up  like  a  corpse.  But 
before  we  go  I  will  come  with  a  knife  and  pretend 
to  stab  you,  but  I  will  really  cut  the  rope  that  binds 
you  so  that  you  can  unwind  it  from  your  body  as 
soon  as  the  camp  is  out  of  sight  and  hearing." 

And  so,  before  the  camp  started,  the  old  woman 
came  to  the  place  where  the  two  children  were  bound. 
She  had  in  her  hand  a  knife  bound  to  the  end  of  a 
stick  which  she  used  as  a  lance.  She  stood  over  the 
children  and  cried  aloud : 

"You  wicked  girl,  who  have  shamed  your  own 
mother,  you  deserve  all  the  punishment  that  is  given 
you.  But  after  all  I  do  not  want  to  let  you  lie  and 
starve.  Far  better  kill  you  at  once  and  have  done 
with  it!"  and  with  her  stick  she  stabbed  many  times, 
as  if  to  kill,  but  she  was  really  cutting  the  rope. 

The  camp  moved  on;  but  the  children  lay  on  the 
ground  until  noon  the  next  day.  Then  they  began  to 
squirm  about.  Soon  the  girl  was  free,  and  she  then 
set  loose  her  little  brother.  They  went  at  once  to 

—58— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE    BOUND    CHILDREN    RELEASED    BY   AN    OLD 
WOMAN 


—59— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

the  old  woman's  hut  where  they  found  the  flint  and 
steel  and  the  packs  of  dried  meat. 

The  girl  made  her  brother  a  bow  and  arrows  and 
with  these  he  killed  birds  and  other  small  game. 

The  boy  grew  up  a  great  hunter.  They  became 
rich.  They  built  three  great  tepees,  in  one  of  which 
were  stored  rows  upon  rows  of  parfleche  bags  of 
dried  meat. 

One  day  as  the  brother  went  out  to  hunt,  he  met 
a  handsome  young  stranger  who  greeted  him  and 
said  to  him: 

"I  know  you  are  a  good  hunter,  for  I  have  been 
watching  you ;  your  sister,  too,  is  industrious.  Let  me 
have  her  for  a  wife.  Then  you  and  I  will  be  brothers 
and  hunt  together." 

The  girl's  brother  went  home  and  told  her  what 
the  young  stranger  had  said. 

"Brother,  I  do  not  care  to  marry/'  she  answered. 
"I  am  now  happy  with  you." 

"But  you  will  be  yet  happier  married,"  he  an 
swered,  "and  the  young  stranger  is  of  no  mean  fam 
ily,  as  one  can  see  by  his  dress  and  manners." 

"Very  well,  I  will  do  as  you  wish,"  she  said.  So 
the  stranger  came  into  the  tepee  and  was  the  girl's 
husband. 

One  day  as  they  were  in  their  tent,  a  crow  flew 
overhead,  calling  out  loudly, 

"Kaw,  Kaw, 

They  who  forsook  the  children  have  no  meat." 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

The  girl  and  her  husband  and  brother  looked  up 
at  one  another. 

"What  can  it  mean?"  they  asked.  "Let  us  send 
for  Unktomi  (the  spider).  He  is  a  good  judge  and 
he  will  know." 

"And  I  will  get  ready  a  good  dinner  for  him, 
for  Unktomi  is  always  hungry,"  added  the  young 
wife. 

When  Unktomi  came,  his  yellow  mouth  opened 
with  delight  at  the  fine  feast  spread  for  him.  After 
he  had  eaten  he  was  told  what  the  crow  had  said. 

"The  crow  means,"  said  Unktomi,  "that  the 
villagers  and  chief  who  bound  and  deserted  you  are 
in  sad  plight.  They  have  hardly  anything  to  eat  and 
are  starving." 

When  the  girl  heard  this  she  made  a  bundle  of 
choicest  meat  and  called  the  crow. 

"Take  this  to  the  starving  villagers,"  she  bade 
him. 

He  took  the  bundle  in  his  beak,  flew  away  to  the 
starving  village  and  dropped  the  bundle  before  the 
chiefs  tepee.  The  chief  came  out  and  the  crow  called 
loudly : 

"Kaw,  Kaw ! 

The  children  who  were  forsaken  have  much 
meat;  those -who  forsook  them  have  none." 

"What  can  he  mean,"  cried  the  astonished  villag 
ers. 

"Let  us  send   for  Unktomi,"  said  one,   "he  is  a 
great  judge;  he  will  tell  us." 
—61— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

They  divided  the  bundle  of  meat  among  the  starv 
ing  people,  saving  the  biggest  piece  for  Unktomi. 

When  Unktomi  had  come  and  eaten,  the  villagers 
told  him  of  the  crow  and  asked  what  the  bird's  words 
meant. 

"He  means,"  said  Unktomi,  "that  the  two  children 
whom  you  forsook  have  tepees  full  of  dried  meat 
enough  for  all  the  village/' 

The  villagers  were  filled  with  astonishment  at  this 
news.  To  find  whether  or  not  it  was  true,  the  chief 
called  seven  young  men  and  sent  them  out  to  see.  They 
came  to  the  three  tepees  and  there  met  the  girl's 
brother  and  husband  just,  going  out  to  hunt  (which 
they  did  now  only  for  sport). 

The  girl's  brother  invited  the  seven  young  men 
into  the  third  or  sacred  lodge,  and  after  they  had 
smoked  a  pipe  and  knocked  out  the  ashes  on  a  buf 
falo  bone  the  brother  gave  them  meat  to  eat,  which 
the  seven  devoured  greedily.  The  next  day  he  loaded 
all  seven  with  packs  of  meat,  saying: 

"Take  this  meat  to  the  villagers  and  lead  them 
hither." 

While  they  awaited  the  return  of  the  young  men 
with  the  villagers,  the  girl  made  two  bundles  of  meat, 
one  of  the  best  and  choicest  pieces,  and  the  other  of 
liver,  very  dry  and  hard  to  eat.  After  a  few  days 
the  camp  arrived.  The  young  woman's  mother  open 
ed  the  door  and  ran  in  crying:  "Oh,  my  dear  daugh 
ter,  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you."  But  the  daughter 
received  her  coldly  and  gave  her  the  bundle  of  dried 
—62— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

liver  to  eat.  But  when  the  old  woman  who  had  saved 
the  children's  lives  came  in,  the  young  girl  received 
her  gladly,  called  her  grandmother,  and  gave  her  the 
package  of  choice  meat  with  marrow. 

Then  the  whole  village  camped  and  ate  of  the 
stores  of  meat  all  the  winter  until  spring  came;  and 
withal  they  were  so  many,  there  was  such  abundance 
of  stores  that  there  was  still  much  left. 


—63— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 


THE  SIGNS  OF  CORN 


When  corn  is  to  be  planted  by  the  Indians,  it  is 
the  work  of  the  women  folk  to  see  to  the  sorting-  and 
cleaning  of  the  best  seed.  It  is  also  the  women's 
work  to  see  to  the  planting.  (This  was  in  olden 
times.) 

After  the  best  seed  has  been  selected,  the  planter 
measures  the  corn,  lays  down  a  layer  of  hay,  then 
a  layer  of  corn.  Over  this  corn  they  sprinkle  warm 
water  and  cover  it  with  another  layer  of  hay,  then 
bind  hay  about  the  bundle  and  hang  it  up  in  a  spot 
where  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun  can  strike  it. 

While  the  corn  is  hanging  in  the  sun,  the  ground 
is  being  prepared  to  receive  it.  Having  finished  the 
task  of  preparing  the  ground,  the  woman  takes  down 
her  seed  corn  which  has  by  this  time  sprouted.  Then 
she  proceeds  to  plant  the  corn. 

Before  she  plants  the  first  hill,  she  extends  her 
hoe  heavenwards  and  asks  the  Great  Spirit  to  bless 
her  work,  that  she  may  have  a  good  yield.  After 
her  prayer  she  takes  four  kernels  and  plants  one  at 
the  north,  one  at  the  south,  one  at  the  east  and  one 
at  the  west  sides  of  the  first  hill.  This  is  asking  the 
Great  Spirit  to  give  summer  rain  and  sunshine  to 
bring  forth  a  good  crop. 

For  different  growths  of  the  corn,  the  women 
have  an  interpretation  as  to  the  character  of  the  one 
who  planted  it. 

ist.     Where  the  corn  grows  in  straight  rows  and 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

the  cob  is  full  of  kernels  to  the  end,  this  signifies 
that  the  planter  of  this  corn  is  of  an  exemplary  char 
acter,  and  is  very  truthful  and  thoughtful. 

2nd.  If  the  rows  on  the  ears  of  corn  are  irregu 
lar  and  broken,  the  planter  is  considered  careless  and 
unthoughtful.  Also  disorderly  and  slovenly  about  her 
house  and  person. 

3rd.  When  an  ear  of  corn  bears  a  few  scatter- 
ing  kernels  with  spaces  producing  no  corn,  it  is  said 
that  is  a  good  sign  that  the  planter  will  live  to  a  ripe 
old  age.  So  old  will  they  be  that  like  the  corn,  their 
teeth  will  be  few  and  far  between. 

4th.  When  a  stalk  bears  a  great  many  nubbins, 
or  small  ears  growing  around  the  large  one,  it  is  a 
sign  that  the  planter  is  from  a  large  and  respectable 
family. 

After  the  corn  is  gathered,  it  is  boiled  into  sweet 
corn  and  made  into  hominy;  parched  and  mixed  with 
buffalo  tallow  and  rolled  into  round  balls,  and  used 
at  feasts,  or  carried  by  the  warriors  on  the  warpath 
as  food. 

When  there  has  been  a  good  crop  of  corn,  an  ear 
is  always  tied  at  the  top  of  the  medicine  pole,  of 
the  sun  dance,  in  thanks  to  the  Great  Spirit  for  his 
goodness  to  them  in  sending  a  bountiful  crop. 


—65— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


STORY  OF  THE  RABBITS 


The  Rabbit  nation  were  very  much  depressed  in 
spirits  on  account  of  being  run  over  by  all  other 
nations.  They,  being  very  obedient  to  their  chief, 
obeyed  all  his  orders  to  the  letter.  One  of  his  orders 
was,  that  upon  the  approach  of  any  other  nation  that 
they  should  follow  the  example  of  their  chief  and  run 
up  among  the  rocks  and  down  into  their  burrows,  and 
not  show  themselves  until  the  strangers  had  passed. 

This  they  always  did.  Even  the  chirp  of  a  little 
cricket  would  send  them  all  scampering  to  their  dens. 

One  day  they  held  a  great  council,  and  after  talk 
ing  over  everything  for  some  time,  finally  left  it 
to  their  medicine  man  to  decide.  The  medicine  man 
arose  and  said: 

V  "My    friends,   we   are   of   no   use   on   this    earth. 

There  isn't  a  nation  on  earth  that  fears  us,  and  we  are 
so  timid  that  we  cannot  defend  ourselves,  so  the  best 
thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  rid  the  earth  of  our  nation, 
by  all  going  over  to  the  big  lake  and  drowning  our 
selves." 

This  they  decided  to  do;  so  going  to  the  lake 
they  were  about  to  jump  in,  when  they  heard  a  splash 
ing  in  the  water.  Looking,  they  saw  a  lot  of  frogs 
jumping  into  the  lake. 

"We  will  not  drown  ourselves,"  said  the  medi 
cine  man,  "we  have  found  a  nation  who  are  afraid 
of  us.  It  is  the  frog  nation."  Had  it  not  been  for 
the  frogs  we  would  have  had  no  rabbits,  as  the  whole 

—66— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


nation  would  have  drowned  themselves  and  the  rab 
bit   race    would    have   been   extinct. 


THE   RABBIT    NATION,    DISCOVERING   THE   FROG 

NATION  TO  BE  MORE  TIMID  THAN  THEY 

WERE,   CONCLUDED  NOT  TO   DROWN 

THEMSELVES 


—67— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 
HOW  THE  RABBIT  LOST  HIS  TAIL 

Once  upon  a  time  there  were  two  brothers,  one  a 
great  Genie  and  the  other  a  rabbit.  Like  all  genie, 
the  older  could  change  himself  into  any  kind  of  an 
animal,  bird,  fish,  cloud,  thunder  and  lightning,  or  in 
fact  anything  that  he  desired. 

The  younger  brother  (the  rabbit)  was  very  mis 
chievous  and  was  continually  getting  into  all  kinds 
of  trouble.  His  older  brother  was  kept  busy  getting 
Rabbit  out  of  all  kinds  of  scrapes. 

When  Rabbit  had  attained  his  full  growth  he  want 
ed  to  travel  around  and  see  something  of  the  world. 
When  he  told  his  brother  what  he  intended  to  do,  the 
brother  said:  "Now,  Rabbit,  you  are  Witkotko  (mis 
chievous),  so  be  very  careful,  and  keep  out  of  trouble 
as  much  as  possible.  In  case  you  get  into  any  seri 
ous  trouble,  and  can't  get  out  by  yourself,  just  call 
on  me  for  assistance,  and  no  matter  where  you  are,  I 
will  come  to  you." 

Rabbit  started  out  and  the  first  day  he  came  to  a 
very  high  house,  outside  of  which  stood  a  very  high 
pine  tree.  So  high  was  the  tree  that  Rabbit  could 
hardly  see  the  top.  Outside  the  door,  on  an  enormous 
stool,  sat  a  very  large  giant  fast  asleep.  Rabbit  (hav 
ing  his  bow  and  arrows  with  him)  strung  up  his 
bow,  and,  taking  an  arrow  from  his  quiver,  said: 

"I  want  to  see  how  big  this  man  is,  so  I  guess  I 
will  wake  him  up."  So  saying  he  moved  over  to  one 
side  and  took  good  aim,  and  shot  the  giant  upon  the 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

nose.  This  stung  like  fire  and  awoke  the  giant,  who 
jumped  up,  crying:  "Who  had  the  audacity  to  shoot 
me  on  the  nose?"  "I  did,"  said  Rabbit. 

The  giant,  hearing  a  voice,  looked  all  around,  but 
saw  nothing,  until  he  looked  down  at  the  corner  of  the 
house,  and  there  sat  a  rabbit. 

"I  had  hiccoughs  this  morning  and  thought  that 
I  was  going  to  have  a  good  big  meal,  and  here  is 
nothing  but  a  toothful." 

"I  guess  you  won't  make  a  toothful  of  me,"  said 
Rabbit,  "I  am  as  strong  as  you,  though  I  am  lit 
tle."  "We  will  see,"  said  the  giant.  He  went  into 
the  house  and  came  out,  bringing  a  hammer  that 
weighed  many  tons. 

"Now,  Mr.  Rabbit,  we  will  see  who  can  throw 
this  hammer  over  the  top  of  that  tree."  "Get  some 
thing  harder  to  do,"  said  Rabbit. 

"Well,  we  will  try  this  first,"  said  the  giant.  With 
that  he  grasped  the  hammer  in  both  hands,  swung 
it  three  times  around  his  head  and  sent  it  spinning 
thru  the  air.  Up,  up,  it  went,  skimming  the  top  of  the 
tree,  and  came  down,  shaking  the  ground  and  bury 
ing  itself  deep  into  the  earth. 

"Now,"  said  the  giant,  "if  you  don't  accomplish 
this  same  feat,  I  am  going  to  swallow  you  at  one 
mouthful."  Rabbit  said,  "I  always  sing  to  my  brother 
before  I  attempt  things  like  this."  So  he  commenced 
singing  and  calling  his  brother.  "Cinye!  Cinye!" 
(brother,  brother)  he  sang.  The  giant  grew  nervous, 
and  said:  "Boy,  why  do  you  call  your  brother?" 

—69— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

Pointing  to  a  small  black  cloud  that  was  approach 
ing  very  swiftly,  Rabbit  said:  "That  is  my  brother; 
he  can  destroy  you,  your  house,  and  pine  tree  in 
one  breath." 

"Stop  him  and  you  can  go  free,"  said  the  giant. 
Rabbit  waved  his  paws  and  the  cloud  disappeared. 

From  this  place  Rabbit  continued  on  his  trip  to 
wards  the  west.  The  next  day,  while  passing  thru 
a  deep  forest,  he  thought  he  heard  some  one  moan 
ing,  as  though  in  pain.  He  stopped  and  listened; 
soon  the  wind  blew  and  the  moaning  grew  louder. 
Following  the  direction  from  whence  came  the  sound, 
he  soon  discovered  a  man  stripped  of  his  cloth 
ing,  and  caught  between  two  limbs  of  a  tall  elm  tree. 
When  the  wind  blew  the  limbs  would  rub  together 
and  squeeze  the  man,  who  would  give  forth  the  mourn 
ful  groans. 

"My,  you  have  a  fine  place  up  there.  Let  us 
change.  You  can  come  down  and  I  will  take  your 
place."  (Now  this  man  had  been  placed  up  there  for 
punishment,  by  Rabbit's  brother,  and  he  could  not 
get  down  unless  some  one  came  along  and  proposed 
to  take  his  place  on  the  tree).  "Very  well,"  said 
the  man.  "Take  off  your  clothes  and  come  up.  I 
will  fasten  you  in  the  limbs  and  you  can  have  all  the 
fun  you  want." 

Rabbit  disrobed  and  climbed  up.  The  man  placed 
him  between  the  limbs  and  slid  down  the  tree.  He 
hurriedly  got  into  Rabbit's  clothes,  and  just  as  he 
had  completed  his  toilet,  the  wind  blew  very  hard. 

—70— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

Rabbit  was  nearly  crazy  with  pain,  and  screamed  and 
cried.  Then  he  began  to  cry  "Cinye,  Cinye"  (brother, 
brother).  "Call  your  brother  as  much  as  you  like, 
he  can  never  find  me."  So  saying  the  man  disap 
peared  in  the  forest. 

Scarcely  had  he  disappeared,  when  the  brother  ar 
rived,  and  seeing  Rabbit  in  the  tree,  said:  "Which 
way  did  he  go?"  Rabbit  pointed  the  direction  taken 
by  the  man.  The  brother  flew  over  the  top  of  the 
trees,  soon  found  the  man  and  brought  him  back, 
making  him  take  his  old  place  between  the  limbs,  and 
causing  a  heavy  wind  to  blow  and  continue  all  after 
noon  and  night,  for  punishment  to  the  man  for  hav 
ing  placed  his  brother  up  there. 

After  Rabbit  got  his  clothes  back  on,  his  brother 
gave  him  a  good  scolding,  and  wound  up  by  saying: 
'T  want  you  to  be  more  careful  in  the  future.  I  have 
plenty  of  work  to  keep  me  as  busy  as  I  want  to  be, 
and  I  can't  be  stopping  every  little  while  to  be  mak 
ing  trips  to  get  you  out  of  some  foolish  scrape.  It 
was  only  yesterday  that  I  came  five  hundred  miles  to 
help  you  from  the  giant,  and  today  I  have  had  to 
come  a  thousand  miles,  so  be  more  careful  from 
this  on." 

Several  clays  after  this  the  Rabbit  was  traveling 
along  the  banks  of  a  small  river,  when  he  came  to  a 
small  clearing  in  the  woods,  and  in  the  center  of  the 
clearing  stood  a  nice  little  log  hut.  Rabbit  was  won 
dering  who  could  be  living  here  when  the  door  slow 
ly  opened  and  an  old  man  appeared  in  the  doorway, 

ry-1 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

bearing  a  tripe  water  pail  in  his  right  hand.  In  his 
left  hand  he  held  a  string  which  was  fastened  to  the 
inside  of  the  house.  He  kept  hold  of  the  string  and 
came  slowly  down  to  the  river.  When  he  got  to 
the  water  he  stooped  down  and  dipped  the  pail  into 
it  and  returned  to  the  house,  still  holding  the  string 
for  guidance. 


HOW  THE  RABBIT  LOST  HIS  TAIL 


Soon  he  reappeared  holding  on  to  another  string, 
and,  following  this  one,  went  to  a  large  pile  of  wood 
and  returned  to  the  house  with  it.  Rabbit  wanted  to 
see  if  the  old  man  would  come  out  again,  but  he 
came  out  no  more.  Seeing  smoke  ascending  from 
the  mud  chimney,  he  thought  he  would  go  over  and 
see  what  the  old  man  was  doing.  He  knocked  at 

—72— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

the  door,  and  a  weak  voice  bade  him  enter.     He  no 
ticed  that  the  old  man  was  cooking  dinner. 

"Hello  Tunkasina  (grandfather),  you  must  have 
a  nice  time,  living  here  alone.  I  see  that  you  have 
everything  handy.  You  can  get  wood  and  water,  and 
that  is  all  you  have  to  do.  How  do  you  get  your  pro 
visions  ?" 

"The  wolves  bring  my  meat,  the  mice  my  rice  and 
ground  beans,  and  the  birds  bring  me  the  cherry  leaves 
for  my  tea.  Yet  it  is  a  hard  life,  as  I  am  all  alone 
most  of  the  time  and  have  no  one  to  talk  to,  and  be 
sides,  I  am  blind." 

"Say,  grandfather,"  said  Rabbit,  "let  us  change 
places.  I  think  I  would  like  to  live  here." 

"If  we  exchange  clothes,"  said  the  other,  "you  will 
become  old  and  blind,  while  I  will  assume  your  youth 
and  good  looks."  (Now,  this  old  man  was  placed 
here  for  punishment  by  Rabbit's  brother.  He  had 
killed  his  wife,  so  the  genie  made  him  old  and  blind, 
and  he  would  remain  so  until  some  one  came  who 
would  exchange  places  with  him). 

"I  don't  care  for  youth  and  good  looks,"  said  Rab 
bit,  "let  us  make  the  change." 

They  changed  clothes,  and  Rabbit  became  old  and 
blind,  whilst  the  old  man  became  young  and  hand 
some. 

"Well,  I  must  go,"  said  the  man.  He  went  out 
and  cutting  the  strings  close  to  the  door,  ran  off 
laughing.  "You  will  get  enough  of  your  living  alone, 
—73— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

you    crazy    boy,"    and    saying   this    he    ran    into    the 
woods. 

Rabbit  thought  he  would  like  to  get  some  fresh 
water  and  try  the  string  paths  so  that  he  would  get 
accustomed  to  it.  He  bumped  around  the  room  and 
finally  found  the  tripe  water  bucket.  He  took  hold  of 
the  string  and  started  out.  When  he  had  gotten 
a  short  distance  from  the  door  he  came  to  the  end  of 
the  string  so  suddenly,  that  he  lost  the  end  which 
he  had  in  his  hand,  and  he  wandered  about,  bumping 
against  the  trees,  and  tangling  himself  up  in  plum 
bushes  and  thorns,  scratching  his  face  and  hands  so 
badly  that  the  blood  ran  from  them.  Then  it  was 
that  he  commenced  again  to  cry,  "Cinye !  Cinye !" 
(brother,  brother).  Soon  his  brother  arrived,  and 
asked  which  way  the  old  man  had  gone. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Rabbit,  "I  couldn't  see  which 
path  he  took,  as  I  was  blind." 

The  genie  called  the  birds,  and  they  came  flying 
from  every  direction.  As  fast  as  they  arrived  the 
brother  asked  them  if  they  had  seen  the  man  whom 
he  had  placed  here  for  punishment,  but  none  had  seen 
him.  The  owl  came  last,  and  when  asked  if  he  had 
seen  the  man,  he  said  "hoo-hoo."  "The  man  who 
lived  here,"  said  the  brother.  "Last  night  I  was 
hunting  mice  in  the  woods  south  of  here  and  I  saw 
a  man  sleeping  beneath  a  plum  tree.  I  thought  it  was 
your  brother,  Rabbit,  so  I  didn't  awaken  him,"  said 
the  owl. 

"Good  for  you,  owl,"  said  the  brother,  "for  this 

—74— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

good  news,  you  shall  hereafter  roam  around  only  at 
night,  and  I  will  fix  your  eyes,  so  the  darker  the  night 
the  better  you  will  be  able  to  see.  You  will  always 
have  the  fine  cool  nights  to  hunt  your  food.  You  other 
birds  can  hunt  your  food  during  the  hot  daylight." 
(Since  then  the  owl  has  been  the  night  bird). 

The  brother  flew  to  the  woods  and  brought  the 
man  back  and  cut  the  strings  short,  and  said  to  him: 
"Now  you  can  get  a  taste  of  what  you  gave  my 

brother." 
j 
To  Rabbit  he  said:  "I  ought  not  to  have  helped 

you  this  time.  Any  one  who  is  so  crazy  as  to  change 
places  with  a  blind  man  should  be  left  without  help, 
so  be  careful,  as  I  am  getting  tired  of  your  foolish 
ness,  and  will  not  help  you  again  if  you  do  anything 
as  foolish  as  you  did  this  time." 

Rabbit  started  to  return  to  his  home.  When  he 
had  nearly  completed  his  journey  he  came  to  a  little 
creek,  and  being  thirsty  took  a  good  long  drink. 
While  he  was  drinking  he  heard  a  noise  as  though 
a  wolf  or  cat  was  scratching  the  earth.  Looking  up 
to  a  hill  which  overhung  the  creek,  he  saw  four 
wolves,  with  their  tails  intertwined,  pulling  with  all 
their  might.  As  Rabbit  came  up  to  them  one  pulled 
loose,  and  Rabbit  saw  that  his  tail  was  broken. 

"Let  me  pull  tails  with  you.     My  tail  is  long  and 
strong,"  said  Rabbit,  and  the  wolves  assenting,  Rab 
bit  interlocked  his  long  tail  with  those  of  the  three 
wolves  and  commenced  pulling  and  the  wolves  pulled 
—75— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

so  hard  that  they  pulled  Rabbit's  tail  off  at  the  sec 
ond  joint.  The  wolves  disappeared. 

"Cinye!  Cinye!  (Brother,  brother.)  I  have  lost 
my  tail,"  cried  Rabbit.  The  genie  came  and  seeing 
his  brother  Rabbit's  tail  missing,  said:  "You  look 
better  without  a  tail  anyway." 

From  that  time  on  rabbits  have  had  no  tails. 


—76— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


UNKTOMI  AND  THE  ARROWHEADS 


There  were  once  upon  a  time  two  young  men  who 
were  very  great  friends,  and  were  constantly  together. 
One  was  a  very  thoughtful  young  man,  the  other 
very  impulsive,  who  never  stopped  to  think  before  he 
committed  an  act. 

One  day  these  two  friends  were  walking  along, 
telling  each  other  of  their  experiences  in  love  mak 
ing.  They  ascended  a  high  hill,  and  on  reaching  the 
top,  heard  a  ticking  noise  as  if  small  stones  or  peb 
bles  were  being  struck  together. 

Looking  around  they  discovered  a  large  spider 
sitting  in  the  midst  of  a  great  many  flint  arrowheads. 
The  spider  was  busily  engaged  making  the  flint  rocks 
into  arrow  heads.  They  looked  at  the  spider,  but 
he  never  moved,  but  continued  hammering  away  on 
a  piece  of  flint  which  he  had  nearly  completed  into 
another  arrowhead. 

"Let's  hit  him/'  said  the  thoughtless  one.  "No," 
said  the  other,  "he  is  not  harming  any  one;  in  fact, 
he  is  doing  a  great  good,  as  he  is  making  the  flint 
arrowheads  which  we  use  to  point  our  arrows." 

"Oh,  you  are  afraid,"  said  the  first  young  man. 
"He  can't  harm  you.  Just  watch  me  hit  him."  So 
saying,  he  picked  up  an  arrowhead  and  throwing  it 
at  "Unktomi,"  hit  him  on  the  side.  As  Unktomi 
rolled  over  on  his  side,  got  up  and  stood  looking  at 
them,  the  young  man  laughed  and  said:  "Well,  let 
us  be  going,  as  your  grandfather,  "Unktomi,"  doesn't 
—77— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

seem  to  like  our  company."  They  started  down  the 
hill,  when  suddenly  the  one  who  had  hit  Unktomi 
took  a  severe  fit  of  coughing.  He  coughed  and 
coughed,  and  finally  small  particles  of  blood  came 
from  his  mouth.  The  blood  kept  coming  thicker 
and  in  great  gushes.  Finally  it  came  so  thick  and  fast 
that  the  man  could  not  get  his  breath  and  fell  upon  the 
ground  dead. 

The  thoughtful  young  man,  seeing  that  his  friend 
was  no  more,  hurried  to  the  village  and  reported  what 
had  happened.  The  relatives  and  friends  hurried  to 
the  hill,  and  sure  enough,  there  lay  the  thoughtless 
young  man  still  and  cold  in  death.  They  held  a 
council  and  sent  for  the  chief  of  the  Unktomi  tribe. 
When  he  heard  what  had  happened,  he  told  the  coun 
cil  that  he  could  do  nothing  to  his  Unktomi,  as  it  had 
only  defended  itself. 

Said  he:  "My  friends,  seeing  that  your  tribe  was 
running  short  of  arrowheads,  I  set  a  great  many  of 
my  tribe  to  work  making  flint  arrowheads  for  you. 
When  my  men  are  thus  engaged  they  do  not  wish 
to  be  disturbed,  and  your  young  man  not  only  dis 
turbed  my  man,  but  grossly  insulted  him  by  striking 
him  with  one  of  the  arrowheads  which  he  had  worked 
so  hard  to  make.  My  man  could  not  sit  and  take 
this  insult,  so  as  the  young  man  walked  away  the 
Unktomi  shot  him  with  a  very  tiny  arrowhead.  This 
produced  a  hemorrhage,  which  caused  his  death.  So 
now,  my  friends,  if  you  will  fill  and  pass  the  peace 
pipe,  we  will  part  good  friends  and  my  tribe  shall 
—78— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

always  furnish  you  with  plenty  of  flint  arrowheads." 
So  saying,  Unktomi  Tanka  finished  his  peace  smoke 
and  returned  to  his  tribe. 

Ever  after  that,  when  the  Indians  heard  a  tick 
ing  in  the  grass,  they  would  go  out  of  their  way  to 
get  around  the  sound,  saying,  Unktomi  is  making 
arrowheads;  we  must  not  disturb  him. 

Thus  it  was  that  Unktomi  Tanka  (Big  Spider) 
had  the  respect  of  this  tribe,  and  was  never  after 
disturbed  in  his  work  of  making  arrowheads. 


-79— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

THE  BEAR  AND  THE  RABBIT  HUNT 
BUFFALO 


Once  upon  a  time  there  lived  as  neighbors,  a  bear 
and  a  rabbit.  The  rabbit  was  a  good  shot,  and  the 
bear  being  very  clumsy  could  not  use  the  arrow  to 
good  advantage.  The  bear  was  very  unkind  to  the 
rabbit.  Every  morning,  the  bear  would  call  over 
to  the  rabbit  and  say:  "Take  your  bow  and  arrows 
and  come  with  me  to  the  other  side  of  the  hill.  A 
large  herd  of  buffalo  are  grazing  there,  and  I  want 
you  to  shoot  some  of  them  for  me,  as  my  children 
are  crying  for  meat." 

The  rabbit,  fearing  to  arouse  the  bear's  anger  by 
refusing,  consented,  and  went  with  the  bear,  and  shot 
enough  buffalo  to  satisfy  the  hungry  family.  In 
deed,  he  shot  and  killed  so  many  that  there  was  lots 
of  meat  left  after  the  bear  and  his  family  had  loaded 
themselves,  and  packed  all  they  could  carry  home. 
The  bear  being  very  gluttonous,  and  not  wanting  the 
rabbit  to  get  any  of  the  meat,  said:  "Rabbit,  you 
come  along  home  with  us  and  we  will  return  and  get 
the  remainder  of  the  meat." 

The  poor  rabbit  could  not  even  taste  the  blood 
from  the  butchering,  as  the  bear  would  throw  earth 
on  the  blood  and  dry  it  up.  Poor  Rabbit  would  have 
to  go  home  hungry  after  his  hard  day's  work. 

The  bear  was  the  father  of  five  children.  The 
youngest  boy  was  very  kind  to  the  rabbit.  The  mother 
bear,  knowing  that  her  youngest  was  a  very  hearty 

—80— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

eater,  always  gave  him  an  extra  large  piece  of  meat. 
What  the  baby  bear  did  not  eat,  he  would  take  outside 
with  him  and  pretend  to  play  ball  with  it,  kicking 
it  toward  the  rabbit's  house,  and  when  he  got  close 
to  the  door  he  would  give  the  meat  such  a  great  kick, 
that  it  would  fly  into  the  rabbit's  house,  and  in  this 
way  poor  Rabbit  would  get  his  meal  unknown  to 
the  papa  bear. 

Baby  bear  never  forgot  his  friend  Rabbit.  Papa 
bear  often  wondered  why  his  baby  would  go  outside 
after  each  meal.  He  grew  suspicious  and  asked  the 
baby  where  he  had  been.  "Oh,  I  always  play  ball 
outside,  around  the  house,  and  when  I  get  tired 
playing  I  eat  up  my  meat  ball  and  then  come  in." 

The  baby  bear  was  too  cunning  to  let  papa  bear 
know  that  he  was  keeping  his  friend  rabbit  from 
starving  to  death.  Nevertheless,  papa  bear  suspect 
ed  baby  and  said:  "Baby,  I  think  you  go  over  to 
the  rabbit's  after  every  meal." 

The  four  older  brothers  were  very  handsome,  but 
baby  bear  was  a  little  puny  fellow,  whose  coat  couldn't 
keep  out  much  cold,  as  it  was  short  and  shaggy,  and 
of  a  dirty  brown  color.  The  three  older  brothers  were 
very  unkind  to  baby  bear,  but  the  fourth  one  always 
took  baby's  part,  and  was  always  kind  to  his  baby 
brother. 

Rabbit  was  getting  tired  of  being  ordered  and 
bullied  around  by  papa  bear.  He  puzzled  his  brain 
to  scheme  some  way  of  getting  even  with  Mr.  Bear 
for  abusing  him  so  much.  He  studied  all  night  long, 

—81— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      T  H,E      .'.      SIOUX 


but  no  scheme  worth  trying  ^presented  itself.     Early 

one  morning  Mr.  Bear  presefjtetl  himself'  at  Rabbit's 

1      v. 
door.  «. 

"Say,  Rabbit,  my  meat  it*  all  used  up,  and  there 
is  a  fine  herd  of  buffalo  grazing  on  the  hillside.  Get 
your  bow  and  arrows  and  come  with  me.  I  want  you 
to  shoot  some  of  them  for  me." 

"Very  well,"  said  Rabbit,  and  he  went  and  killed 
six  buffalo  for  Bear.  Bear  got  busy  butchering  and 
poor  Rabbit,  thinking  he  would  get  a  chance  to  lick 
up  one  mouthful  of  blood,  stayed  very  close  to  the 
bear  while  he  was  cutting  up  the  meat.  The  bear 
was  very  watchful  lest  the  rabbit  get  something  to 
eat.  Despite  bear's  watchfulness,  a  small  clot  of 
blood  rolled  past  and  behind  the  bear's  feet.  At 
once  Rabbit  seized  the  clot  and  hid  it  in  his  bosom. 
By  the  time  Rabbit  got  home,  the  blood  clot  was 
hardened  from  the  warmth  of  his  body,  so,  being 
hungry,  it  put  Mr.  Rabbit  out  of  sorts  to  think  that 
after  all  his  trouble  he  could  not  eat  the  blood. 

Very  badly  disappointed,  he  lay  down  on  his  floor 
and  gazed  up  into  the  chimney  hole.  Disgusted  with 
the  way  things  had  turned  out,  he  grabbed  up  the 
blood  clot  and  threw  it  up  through  the  hole.  Scarce 
ly  had  it  hit  the  ground  when  he  heard  the  voice  of 
a  baby  crying,  "Ate!  Ate!"  (father,  father).  He 
went  outside  and  there  he  found  a  big  baby  boy. 
He  took  the  baby  into  his  house  and  threw  him  out 
through  the  hole  again.  This  time  the  boy  was  large 
enough  to  say  "Ate,  Ate,  he-cun-sin-lo."  (Father, 

—82— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

father,  don't  do  that).  But  nevertheless,  he  threw 
him  up  and  out  again.  On  going-  out  the  third  time, 
there  stood  a  handsome  youth  smiling  at  him.  Rab 
bit  at  once  adopted  the  youth  and  took  him  into  his 
house,  seating  him  in  the  seat  of  honor  (which  is 
directly  opposite  the  entrance),  and  saying:  "My  son, 
I  want  you  to  be  a  good,  honest,  straightforward 
man.  Now,  I  have  in  my  possession  a  fine  outfit,  and 
you,  my  son,  shall  wear  it." 

Suiting  his  action  to  his  words,  he  drew  out  a  bag 
from  a  hollow  tree  and  on  opening  it,  drew  out  a  fine 
buckskin  shirt  (tanned  white  as  snow),  worked  with 
porcupine  quills.  Also  a  pair  of  red  leggings  worked 
with  beads.  Moccasins  worked  with  colored  hair.  A 
fine  otter  skin  robe.  White  weasel  skins  to  intertwine 
with  his  beautiful  long  black  locks.  A  magnificent 
center  eagle  feather.  A  rawhide  covered  bow,  ac 
companied  by  a  quiver  full  of  flint  arrowheads. 

The  rabbit,  having  dressed  his  son  in  all  the  lat 
est  finery,  sat  back  and  gazed  long  and  lovingly  at 
his  handsome  son.  Instinctively  Rabbit  felt  that  his 
son  had  been  sent  him  for  the  purpose  of  being  in 
strumental  in  the  downfall  of  Mr.  Bear.  Events  will 
show. 

The  morning  following  the  arrival  of  Rabbit's  son, 
Mr.  Bear  again  presents  himself  at  the  door,  crying 
out:  "You  lazy,  ugly  rabbit,  get  up  and  come  out 
here.  I  want  you  to  shoot  some  more  buffalo  for  me." 

"Who  is  this,  who  speaks  so  insultingly  to  you, 
father?"  asked  the  son. 

—83— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"It  is  a  bear  who  lives  near  here,  and  makes  me 
kill  buffalo  for  his  family,  and  he  won't  let  me  take 
even  one  little  drop  of  blood  from  the  killing,  and 
consequently,  my  son,  I  have  nothing  in  my  house 
for  you  to  eat." 

The  young  man  was  anxious  to  meet  Mr.  Bear, 
but  Rabbit  advised  him  to  wait  a  little  until  he  and 
Bear  had  gone  to  the  hunt.  So  the  son  obeyed,  and 
when  he  thought  it  time  that  the  killing  was  done, 
he  started  out  and  arrived  on  the  scene  just  as  Mr. 
Bear  was  about  to  proceed  with  his  butchering. 

Seeing  a  strange  shadow  on  the  ground  beside 
him,  Mr.  Bear  looked  up  and  gazed  into  the  fearless 
eyes  of  rabbit's  handsome  son. 

"Who  is  this?"  asked  Mr.  Bear  of  poor  little  Rab 
bit. 

"I   don't  know,"  answered  Rabbit. 

"Who  are  you?"  asked  the  bear  of  Rabbit's  son. 
"Where  did  you  come  from?" 

The  rabbit's  son  not  replying,  the  bear  spoke  thus 
to  him:  "Get  out  of  here,  and  get  out  quick,  too." 

At  this  speech  the  rabbit's  son  became  angered, 
and  fastened  an  arrow  to  his  bow  and  drove  the  arrow 
through  the  bear's  heart.  Then  he  turned  on  Mrs. 
Bear  and  served  her  likewise.  During  the  melee,  Rab 
bit  shouted:  "My  son,  my  son,  don't  kill  the  two 
youngest.  The  baby  has  kept  me  from  starving  and 
the  other  one  is  good  and  kind  to  his  baby  brother." 

So  the  three  older  brothers  who  were  unkind  to 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

their  baby  brother  met  a  similar  fate  to  that  of  their 
selfish  parents. 

This    (the  story  goes)    is  the  reason  that  bears 
travel  only  in  pairs. 


—85— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

THE  BRAVE  WHO  WENT  ON  THE  WARPATH 

ALONE  AND  WON  THE  NAME  OF 

THE  LONE  WARRIOR 


There  was  once  a  young  man  whose  parents  were 
not  overburdened  with  the  riches  of  this  world,  and 
consequently  could  not  dress  their  only  son  in  as  rich 
a  costume  as  the  other  young  men  of  the  tribe,  and 
on  account  of  not  being  so  richly  clad  as  they,  he  was 
looked  down  upon  and  shunned  by  them.  He  was 
never  invited  to  take  part  in  any  of  their  sports;  nor 
was  he  ever  asked  to  join  any  of  the  war  parties. 

In  the  village  lived  an  old  man  with  an  only  daugh 
ter.  Like  the  other  family,  they  were  poor,  but  the 
daughter  was  the  belle  of  the  tribe.  She  was  the 
most  sought  after  by  the  young  men  of  the  village, 
and  warriors  from  tribes  far  distant  came  to  press 
their  suit  at  winning  her  for  their  bride.  All  to  no 
purpose;  she  had  the  same  answer  for  them  as  she 
had  for  the  young  men  of  the  village. 

The  poor  young  man  was  also  very  handsome 
despite  his  poor  clothes,  but  having  never  killed  an 
enemy  nor  brought  home  any  enemies'  horses  he  was 
not  (according  to  Indian  rules)  allowed  to  make  love 
to  any  young  or  old  woman.  He  tried  in  vain  to 
join  some  of  the  war  parties,  that  he  might  get  the 
chance  to  win  his  spurs  as  a  warrior.  To  all  his 
pleadings,  came  the  same  answer:  "You  are  not  fit 
to  join  a  war  party.  You  have  no  horses,  and  if  you 
should  get  killed  our  tribe  would  be  laughed  at  and 
—86— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.       SIOUX 

be  made  fun  of  as  you  have  such  poor  clothes,  and 
we  don't  want  the  enemy  to  know  that  we  have  any 
one  of  our  tribe  who  dresses  so  poorly  as  you  do." 

Again,  and  again,  he  tried  different  parties,  only 
to  be  made  fun  of  and  insulted. 

One  night  he  sat  in  the  poor  tepee  of  his  parents. 
He  was  in  deep  study  and  had  nothing  to  say.  His 
father,  noticing  his  melancholy  mood,  asked  him  what 
had  happened  to  cause  him  to  be  so  quiet,  as  he  was 
always  of  a  jolly  disposition.  The  son  answered  and 
said : 

"Father,  I  am  going  on  the  warpath  alone.  In 
vain  I  have  tried  to  be  a  member  of  one  of  the  war 
parties.  To  all  of  my  pleadings  I  have  got  nothing  but 
insults  in  return." 

"But  my  son,  you  have  no  gun  nor  ammunition. 
Where  can  you  get  any  and  how  can  you  get  it  ?  We 
have  nothing  to  buy  one  for  you  with,"  said  the  father. 

"I  don't  need  any  weapons.  I  am  going  to  bring 
back  some  of  the  enemies'  horses,  and  I  don't  need  a 
gun  for  that." 

Early  the  next  morning  (regardless  of  the  old 
couple's  pleadings  not  to  go  unarmed)  the  young  man 
left  the  village  and  headed  northwest,  the  direction 
always  taken  by  the  war  parties. 

For  ten  days  he  traveled  without  seeing  any  signs 
of  a  camp.  The  evening  of  the  tenth  day,  he  reached 
a  very  high  butte,  thickly  wooded  at  the  summit.  He 
ascended  this  butte,  and  as  he  sat  there  between  two 
large  boulders,  watching  the  beautiful  rays  of  the  set- 

—87— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

ting  sun,  he  was  suddenly  startled  to  hear  the  neigh 
of  a  horse.  Looking  down  into  the  beautiful  val 
ley  which  was  threaded  by  a  beautiful  creek  fringed 
with  timber,  he  noticed  close  to  the  base  of  the  butte 
upon  which  he  sat,  a  large  drove  of  horses  grazing 
peacefully  and  quietly.  Looking  closer,  he  noticed 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  main  drove,  a  horse  with 
a  saddle  on  his  back.  This  was  the  one  that  had 
neighed,  as  the  drove  drifted  further  away  from  him. 
He  was  tied  by  a  long  lariat  to  a  large  sage  bush. 

Where  could  the  rider  be,  he  said  to  himself.  As 
if  in  answer  to  his  question,  there  appeared  not  more 
than  twenty  paces  from  him  a  middle  aged  man  com 
ing  up  through  a  deep  ravine.  The  man  was  evi 
dently  in  search  of  some  kind  of  game,  as  he  held 
his  gun  in  readiness  for  instant  use,  and  kept  his 
eyes  directed  at  every  crevice  and  clump  of  bush. 
So  intent  was  he  on  locating  the  game  he  was  trail 
ing,  that  he  never  noticed  the  young  man  who  sat 
like  a  statue  not  twenty  paces  away.  Slowly  and 
cautiously  the  man  approached,  and  when  he  had  ad 
vanced  to  within  a  few  paces  of  the  young  man  he 
stopped  and  turning  around,  stood  looking  down  into 
the  valley.  This  was  the  only  chance  that  our  brave 
young  friend  had.  Being  unarmed,  he  would  stand 
no  show  if  the  enemy  ever  got  a  glimpse  of  him. 
Slowly  and  noiselessly  he  drew  his  hunting  knife 
(which  his  father  had  given  him  on  his  departure 
from  home)  and  holding  it  securely  in  his  right  hand, 
gathered  himself  and  gave  a  leap  which  landed  him 

—88— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

upon  the  unsuspecting  enemy's  shoulders.  The  force 
with  which  he  landed  on  the  enemy  caused  him  (the 
enemy)  to  lose  his  hold  on  his  gun,  and  it  went  rat 
tling  down  into  the  chasm,  forty  feet  below. 

Down  they  came  together,  the  young  man,  on  top. 
No  sooner  had  they  struck  the  ground  than  the  enemy 
had  out  his  knife,  and  then  commenced  a  hand  to 
hand  duel.  The  enemy,  having  more  experience,  was 
getting  the  best  of  our  young  friend.  Already  our 
young  friend  had  two  ugly  cuts,  one  across  his  chest 
and  the  other  through  his  forearm. 

He  was  becoming  weak  from  the  loss  of  blood, 
and  could  not  stand  the  killing  pace  much  longer. 
Summoning  all  his  strength  for  one  more  trial  to 
overcome  his  antagonist,  he  rushed  him  toward  the 
chasm,  and  in  his  hurry  to  get  away  from  this  fierce 
attack,  the  enemy  stepped  back  one  step  too  far,  and 
down  they  both  went  into  the  chasm.  Interlocked 
in  each  other's  arms,  the  young  man  drove  his  knife 
into  the  enemy's  side  and  when  they  struck  the  bot 
tom  the  enemy  relaxed  his  hold  and  straightened  out 
stiff  and  dead. 

Securing  his  scalp  and  gun,  the  young  man  pro 
ceeded  down  to  where  the  horse  was  tied  to  the  sage 
bush,  and  then  gathering  the  drove  of  horses  proceed 
ed  on  his  return  to  his  own  village.  Being  wounded 
severely  he  had  to  ride  very  slowly.  All  the  long  hours 
of  the  night  he  drove  the  horses  towards  his  home 
village. 

In  the  meantime,  those  at  the  enemies'  camp  won- 

—89— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

dered  at  the  long  absence  of  the  herder  who  was 
watching  their  drove  of  horses,  and  finally  seven 
young  men  went  to  search  for  the  missing  herder.  All 
night  long  they  searched  the  hillsides  for  the  horses 
and  herder,  and  when  it  had  grown  light  enough  in 
the  morning  they  saw  by  the  ground  where  there  had 
been  a  fierce  struggle. 

Following  the  tracks  in  the  sand  and  leaves,  they 
came  to  the  chasm  where  the  combatants  had  fallen 
over,  and  there,  lying  on  his  back  staring  up  at  them 
in  death,  was  their  herder.  They  hastened  to  the 
camp  and  told  what  they  had  found.  Immediately 
the  warriors  mounted  their  war  ponies  (these  ponies 
are  never  turned  loose,  but  kept  tied  close  to  the 
tepee  of  the  owner),  and  striking  the  trail  of  the 
herd  driven  off  by  our  young  friend,  they  urged 
forth  their  ponies  and  were  soon  far  from  their  camp 
on  the  trail  of  our  young  friend.  All  day  long  they 
traveled  on  his  trail,  and  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking 
they  caught  sight  of  him  driving  the  drove  ahead  over 
a  high  hill.  Again  they  urged  forth  their  tired  ponies. 
The  young  man,  looking  back  along  the  trail,  saw 
some  dark  objects  coming  along,  and,  catching  a  fresh 
horse,  drove  the  rest  ahead  at  a  great  rate.  Again  all 
night  he  drove  them,  and  when  daylight  came  he 
looked  back  (from  a  high  butte)  over  his  trail  and 
saw  coming  over  a  distant  raise,  two  horsemen. 
These  two  undoubtedly  rode  the  best  ponies,  as  he 
saw  nothing  of  the  others.  Driving  the  horses  into 
a  thick  belt  of  timber,  he  concealed  himself  close  to 

—90— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

the  trail  made  by  the  drove  of  horses,  and  lay  in  am 
bush  for  the  two  daring  horsemen  who  had  followed 
him  so  far.  Finally  they  appeared  on  the  butte  from 
where  he  had  looked  back  and  saw  them  following 
him.  For  a  long  time  they  sat  there  scouring  the 
country  before  them  in  hopes  that  they  might  see 
some  signs  of  their  stolen  horses.  Nothing  could  they 
see.  Had  they  but  known,  their  horses  were  but  a 
few  hundred  yards  from  them,  but  the  thick  timber 
securely  hid  them  from  view.  Finally  one  of  them 
arose  and  pointed  to  the  timber.  Then  leaving  his 
horse  in  charge  of  his  friend,  he  descended  the  butte 
and  followed  the  trail  of  the  drove  to  where  they  had 
entered  the  timber.  Little  did  he  think  that  he  was 
standing  on  the  brink  of  eternity.  The  young  man 
hiding  not  more  than  a  hundred  yards  from  him  could 
have  shot  him  there  where  he  stood,  but  wanting  to 
play  fair,  he  stepped  into  sight.  When  he  did,  the 
enemy  took  quick  aim  and  fired.  He  was  too  hasty. 
Had  he  taken  more  careful  aim  he  might  have  killed 
our  young  friend,  but  his  bullet  whizzed  harmlessly 
over  the  young  man's  head  and  buried  itself  in  a  tree. 
The  young  man  took  good  aim  and  fired.  The  enemy 
threw  up  both  hands  and  fell  forward  on  his  face. 
The  other  one  on  the  hill,  seeing  his  friend  killed, 
hastily  mounted  his  horse  and  leading  his  friend's 
horse,  made  rapidly  off  down  the  butte  in  the  direc 
tion  from  whence  he  had  come.  Waiting  for  some 
time  to  be  sure  the  one  who  was  alive  did  not  come 
up  and  take  a  shot  at  him,  he  finally  advanced  upon 
—91— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

the  fallen  enemy  and  securing  his  gun,  ammunition 
and  scalp,  went  to  his  horse  and  drove  the  herd  on 
through  the  woods  and  crossing  a  long  flat  prairie,  as 
cended  a  long  chain  of  hills  and  sat  looking  back 
along  his  trail  in  search  of  any  of  the  enemy  who 
might  continue  to  follow  him. 

Thus  he  sat  until  the  long  shadows  of  the  hills 
reminded  him  that  it  would  soon  be  sunset,  and  as 
he  must  get  some  sleep,  he  wanted  to  find  some  creek 
bend  where  he  could  drive  the  bunch  of  ponies  and 
feel  safe  as  to  their  not  straying  off  during  the  night. 
He  found  a  good  place  for  the  herd,  and  catching  a 
fresh  horse,  he  picketed  him  close  to  where  he  was 
going  to  sleep,  and  wrapping  himself  in  his  blanket, 
was  soon  fast  asleep.  So  tired  and  sleepy  was  he  that 
a  heavy  rain  which  had  come  up,  during  the  night, 
soaked  him  through  and  through,  but  he  never  awak 
ened  until  the  sun  was  high  in  the  east. 

He  awoke  and  going  to  the  place  where  he  had 
left  the  herd,  he  was  glad  to  find  them  all  there.  He 
mounted  his  horse  and  started  his  herd  homeward 
again.  For  two  days  he  drove  them,  and  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  second  day  he  came  in  sight  of  the  village. 

The  older  warriors,  hearing  of  the  young  man 
going  on  this  trip  alone  and  unarmed,  told  the  par 
ents  to  go  in  mourning  for  their  son,  as  he  would 
never  come  back  alive.  When  the  people  of  the  vil 
lage  saw  this  large  drove  of  horses  advancing  towards 
them,  they  at  first  thought  it  was  a  war  party  of  the 
enemy,  and  so  the  head  men  called  the  young  war- 

—92— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

riors  together  and  fully  prepared  for  a  great  battle. 
They  advanced  upon  the  supposed  enemy.  When  they 
got  close  enough  to  discern  a  lone  horseman  driving 
this  large  herd,  they  surrounded  the  horses  and  lone 
warrior,  and  brought  him  triumphantly  into  camp. 
On  arriving  in  the  camp  (or  village)  the  horses  were 
counted  and  the  number  counted  up  to  one  hundred 
and  ten  head. 

The  chief  and  his  criers  (or  heralds)  announced 
through  the  whole  village  that  there  would  be  a  great 
war  dance  given  in  honor  of  the  Lone  Warrior. 

The  whole  village  turned  out  and  had  a  great 
war  dance  that  was  kept  up  three  days  and  three 
nights.  The  two  scalps  which  the  young  man  had 
taken  were  tied  to  a  pole  which  was  placed  in  the 
center  of  the  dance  circle.  At  this  dance,  the  Lone 
Warrior  gave  to  each  poor  family  five  head  of  horses. 

Being  considered  eligible  now  to  pay  his  respects 
to  any  girl  who  took  his  fancy,  he  at  once  went  to 
the  camp  of  the  beautiful  girl  of  the  tribe,  and  as 
he  was  always  her  choice,  she  at  once  consented  to 
marry  him. 

The  news  spread  through  the  village  that  Lone 
Warrior  had  won  the  belle  of  the  nation  for  his  bride, 
and  this  with  the  great  feat  which  he  had  accomplished 
alone  in  killing  two  enemies  and  bringing  home  a 
great  herd  of  horses,  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  chief, 
which  he  faithfully  filled  to  the  end  of  his  days.  And 
many  times  he  had  to  tell  his  grandchildren  the  story 
of  how  he  got  the  name  of  the  Lone  Warrior. 

—93— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

THE  SIOUX  WHO  MARRIED  THE  CROW 
CHIEF'S  DAUGHTER 


A  war  party  of  seven  young  men,  seeing  a  lone 
tepee  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  heavy  belt  of  tim 
ber,  stopped  and  waited  for  darkness,  in  order  to  send 
one  of  their  scouts  ahead  to  ascertain  whether  the 
camp  which  they  had  seen  was  the  camp  of  friend 
or  enemy. 

When  darkness  had  settled  down  on  them,  and 
they  felt  secure  in  not  being  detected,  they  chose  one 
of  their  scouts  to  go  on  alone  and  find  out  what 
would  be  the  best  direction  for  them  to  advance  upon 
the  camp,  should  it  prove  to  be  an  enemy. 

Among  the  scouts  was  one  who  was  noted  for  his 
bravery,  and  many  were  the  brave  acts  he  had  per 
formed.  His  name  was  Big  Eagle.  This  man  they 
selected  to  go  to  the  lone  camp  and  obtain  the  in 
formation  for  which  they  were  waiting. 

Big  Eagle  was  told  to  look  carefully  over  the 
ground  and  select  the  best  direction  from  which  they 
should  make  the  attack.  The  other  six  would  await 
his  return.  He  started  on  his  mission,  being  careful 
not  to  make  any  noise.  He  stealthily  approached  the 
camp.  As  he  drew  near  to  the  tent  he  was  surprised 
to  note  the  absence  of  any  dogs,  as  these  animals 
are  always  kept  by  the  Sioux  to  notify  the  owners 
by  their  barking  of  the  approach  of  anyone.  He 
crawled  up  to  the  tepee  door,  and  peeping  through  a 
small  aperture,  he  saw  three  persons  sitting  inside. 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

An  elderly  man  and  woman  were  sitting  at  the  right 
of  the  fireplace,  and  a  young  woman  at  the  seat  of 
honor,  opposite  the  door. 

Big  Eagle  had  been  married  and  his  wife  had  died 
five  winters  previous  to  the  time  of  this  episode.  He 
had  never  thought  of  marrying  again,  but  when  he 
looked  upon  this  young  woman  he  thought  he  was 
looking  upon  the  face  of  his  dead  wife.  He  removed 
his  cartridge  belts  and  knife,  and  placing  them,  along 
with  his  rifle,  at  the  side  of  the  tent,  he  at  once  boldly 
stepped  inside  the  tepee,  and  going  over  to  the  man, 
extended  his  hand  and  shook  first  the  man's  hand, 
then  the  old  woman's,  and  lastly  the  young  woman's. 
Then  he  seated  himself  by  the  side  of  the  girl,  and 
thus  they  sat,  no  one  speaking. 

Finally,  Big  Eagle  made  signs  to  the  man,  explain 
ing  as  well  as  possible  by  signs,  that  his  wife  had 
died  long  ago,  and  when  he  saw  the  girl  she  so  strong 
ly  resembled  his  dead  wife  that  he  wished  to  marry 
her,  and  he  would  go  back  to  the  enemy's  camp  and 
live  with  them,  if  they  would  consent  to  the  marriage 
of  their  daughter. 

The  old  man  seemed  to  understand,  and  Big  Eagle 
again  made  signs  to  him  that  a  party  were  lying  in 
wait  just  a  short  distance  from  his  camp.  Noise 
lessly  they  brought  in  the  horses,  and  taking  down 
the  tent,  they  at  once  moved  off  in  the  direction  from 
whence  they  had  come.  The  war  party  waited  all 
night,  and  when  the  first  rays  of  dawn  disclosed  to 
them  the  absence  of  the  tepee,  they  at  once  concluded 

—95— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

that  Big  Eagle  had  been  discovered  and  killed,  so  they 
hurriedly  started  on  their  trail  for  home. 

In  the  meantime,  the  hunting  party,  for  this  it 
was  that  Big  Eagle  had  joined,  made  very  good  time 
in  putting  a  good  distance  between  themselves  and 
the  war  party.  All  day  they  traveled,  and  when  even 
ing  came  they  ascended  a  high  hill,  looking  down  in 
to  the  valley  on  the  other  side.  There  stretched  for 
two  miles,  along  the  banks  of  a  small  stream,  an  im 
mense  camp.  The  old  man  made  signs  for  Big  Eagle 
to  remain  with  the  two  women  where  he  was,  until 
he  could  go  to  the  camp  and  prepare  them  to  receive 
an  enemy  into  their  village. 

The  old  man  rode  through  the  camp  and  drew  up 
at  the  largest  tepee  in  the  village.  Soon  Big  Eagle 
could  see  men  gathering  around  the  tepee.  The  crowd 
grew  larger  and  larger,  until  the  whole  village  had 
assembled  at  the  large  tepee.  Finally  they  dispersed, 
and  catching  their  horses,  mounted  and  advanced  to 
the  hill  on  which  Big  Eagle  and  the  two  women  were 
waiting.  They  formed  a  circle  around  them  and 
slowly  they  returned  to  the  village,  singing  and  rid 
ing  in  a  circle  around  them. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  village  they '  advanced 
to  the  large  tepee,  and  motioned  Big  Eagle  to  the 
seat  of  honor  in  the  tepee.  In  the  village  was  a  man 
who  understood  and  spoke  the  Sioux  language.  He 
was  sent  for,  and  through  him  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Crow  tribe  was  taken  by  Big  Eagle.  This  done 

—96— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

he  was  presented  with  the  girl  to  wife,  and  also  with 
many  spotted  ponies. 

Big  Eagle  lived  with  his  wife  among  her  people 
for  two  years,  and  during  this  time  he  joined  in  four 
different  battles  between  his  own  people  (the  Sioux) 
and  the  Crow  people,  to  whom  his  wife  belonged. 

In  no  battle  with  his  own  people  would  he  carry 
any  weapons,  only  a  long  willow  coup-stick,  with 
which  he  struck  the  fallen  Sioux. 

At  the  expiration  of  two  years  he  concluded  to 
pay  a  visit  to  his  own  tribe,  and  his  father-in-law, 
being  a  chief  of  high  standing,  at  once  had  it  heralded 
through  the  village  that  his  son-in-law  would  visit 
his  own  people,  and  for  them  to  show  their  good  will 
and  respect  for  him  by  bringing  ponies  for  his  son- 
in-law  to  take  back  to  his  people. 

Hearing  this,  the  herds  were  all  driven  in  and  all 
day  long  horses  were  brought  to  the  tent  of  Big 
Eagle,  and  when  he  was  ready  to  start  on  his  home 
ward  trip,  twenty  young  men  were  elected  to  accom 
pany  him  to  within  a  safe  distance  of  his  village. 
The  twenty  young  men  drove  the  gift  horses,  amount 
ing  to  two  hundred  and  twenty  head,  to  within  one 
day's  journey  of  the  village  of  Big  Eagle,  and  fear 
ing  for  their  safety  from  his  people,  Big  Eagle  sent 
them  back  to  their  own  village. 

On  his  arrival  at  his  home  village,  they  received 
him  as  one  returned  from  the  dead,  as  they  were  sure 
he  had  been  killed  the  night  he  had  been  sent  to 
reconnoiter  the  lone  camp.  There  was  great  feasting 

—97— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

and  dancing  in  honor  of  his  return,  and  the  horses 
were  distributed  among  the  needy  ones  of  the  village. 

Remaining  at  his  home  village  for  a  year,  he  one 
day  made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  his  wife's  people. 
A  great  many  fancy  robes,  dresses,  war  bonnets,  moc 
casins,  and  a  great  drove  of  horses  were  given  him, 
and  his  wife,  and  he  bade  farewell  to  his  people  for 
good,  saying,  "I  will  never  return  to  you  again,  as 
I  have  decided  to  live  the  remainder  of  my  days  with 
my  wife's  people." 

On  his  arrival  at  the  village  of  the  Crows,  he 
found  his  father-in-law  at  the  point  of  death.  A  few 
days  later  the  old  man  died,  and  Big  Eagle  was  ap 
pointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  chief  made  by  the  death 
of  his  father-in-law. 

Subsequently  he  took  part  in  battles  against  his 
own  people,  and  in  the  third  battle  was  killed  on  the 
field.  Tenderly  the  Crow  warriors  bore  him  back 
to  their  camp,  and  great  was  the  mourning  in  the 
Crow  village  for  the  brave  man  who  always  went 
into  battle  unarmed,  save  only  the  willow  wand  which 
he  carried. 

Thus  ended  the  career  of  one  of  the  bravest  of 
Sioux  warriors  who  ever  took  the  scalp  of  an  enemy, 
and  who  for  the  love  of  his  dead  wife,  gave  up  home, 
parents,  and  friends,  to  be  killed  on  the  field  of  battle 
by  his  own  tribe. 


—98— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  BOY  AND  THE  TURTLES 


A  boy  went  on  a  turtle  hunt,  and  after  follow 
ing  the  different  streams  for  hours,  finally  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  only  place  he  would  find  any 
turtles  would  be  at  the  little  lake,  where  the  tribe 
always  hunted  them. 

So,  leaving  the  stream  he  had  been  following,  he 
cut  across  country  to  the  lake.  On  drawing  near  the 
lake  he  crawled  on  his  hands  and  knees  in  order  not 
to  be  seen  by  the  turtles,  who  were  very  watchful, 
as  they  had  been  hunted  so  much.  Peeping  over 
the  rock  he  saw  a  great  many  out  on  the  shore  sun 
ning  themselves,  so  he  very  cautiously  undressed,  so 
he  could  leap  into  the  water  and  catch  them  before 
they  secreted  themselves.  But  on  pulling  off  his 
shirt  one  of  his  hands  was  held  up  so  high  that  the 
turtles  saw  it  and  jumped  into  the  lake  with  a  great 
splash. 

The  boy  ran  to  the  shore,  but  saw  only  bubbles 
coming  up  from  the  bottom.  Directly  the  boy  saw 
something  coming  to  the  surface,  and  soon  it  came 
up  into  sight.  It  was  a  little  man,  and  soon  others, 
by  the  hundreds,  came  up  and  swam  about,  splashing 
the  water  up  into  the  air  to  a  great  height.  So  scared 
was  the  boy  that  he  never  stopped  to  gather  up  his 
clothes  but  ran  home  naked  and  fell  into  his  grand 
mother's  tent  door. 

"What  is  the  trouble,  grandchild,"  cried  the  old 
woman.  But  the  boy  could  not  answer.  "Did  you 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

see  anything  unnatural?"  He  shook  his  head,  "no." 
He  made  signs  to  the  grandmother  that  his  lungs  were 
pressing  so  hard  against  his  sides  that  he  could  not 
talk.  He  kept  beating  his  side  with  his  clenched 
hands.  The  grandmother  got  out  her  medicine  bag, 
made  a  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit  to  drive  out  the 
evil  spirit  that  had  entered  her  grandson's  body,  and 
after  she  had  applied  the  medicine,  the  prayer  must 
have  been  heard  and  answered,  as  the  boy  commenced 
telling  her  what  he  had  heard  and  seen. 

The  grandmother  went  to  the  chief's  tent  and  told 
what  her  grandson  had  seen.  The  chief  sent  two 
brave  warriors  to  the  lake  to  ascertain  whether  it 
was  true  or  not.  The  two  warriors  crept  to  the  little 
hill  close  to  the  lake,  and  there,  sure  enough,  the  lake 
was  swarming  with  little  men  swimming  about, 
splashing  the  water  high  up  into  the  air.  The  war 
riors,  too,  were  scared  and  hurried  home,  and  in  the 
council  called  on  their  return  told  what  they  had  seen. 
The  boy  was  brought  to  the  council  and  given  the 
seat  of  honor  (opposite  the  door),  and  was  named 
"Wankan  Wanyanka"  (sees  holy). 

The  lake  had  formerly  bprne  the  name  of  Truth 
Lake,  but  from  this  time  on  was  called  "Wicasa-bde" 
— Man  Lake. 


—100— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 


THE  HERMIT,  OR  THE  GIFT  OF  CORN 


In  a  deep  forest,  far  from  the  villages  of  his  peo 
ple,  lived  a  hermit.  His  tent  was  made  of  buffalo 
skins,  and  his  dress  was  made  of  deer  skin.  Far 
from  the  haunts  of  any  human  being  this  old  hermit 
was  content  to  spend  his  days. 

All  day  long  he  would  wander  through  the  for 
est  studying  the  different  plants  of  nature  and  col 
lecting  precious  roots,  which  he  used  as  medicine.  At 
long  intervals  some  warrior  would  arrive  at  the  tent 
of  the  old  hermit  and  get  medicine  roots  from  him 
for  the  tribe,  the  old  hermit's  medicine  being  con 
sidered  far  superior  to  all  others. 

After  a  long  day's  ramble  in  the  woods,  the  her 
mit  came  home  late,  and  being  very  tired,  at  once  lay 
down  on  his  bed  and  was  just  dozing  off  to  sleep, 
when  he  felt  something  rub  against  his  foot.  Awak 
ening  with  a  start,  he  noticed  a  dark  object  and  an 
arm  was  extended  to  him,  holding  in  its  hand  a  flint 
pointed  arrow. 

The  hermit  thought,  "This  must  be  a  spirit,  as 
there  is  no  human  being  around  here  but  myself!" 
A  voice  then  said :  "Hermit,  I  have  come  to  invite 
you  to  my  home."  "How  (yes),  I  will  come,"  said 
the  old  hermit.  Wherewith  he  arose,  wrapped  his 
robe  about  him  and  followed. 

Outside  the  door  he  stopped  and  looked  around, 
but  could  see  no  signs  of  the  dark  object. 

"Whoever  you  are,  or  whatever  you  be,  wait  for 
—101— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

me,  as  I  don't  know  where  to  go  to  find  your  house," 
said  the  hermit.  Not  an  answer  did  he  receive,  nor 
could  he  hear  any  noises  as  though  anyone  was  walk 
ing  through  the  brush.  Re-entering  his  tent  he  re 
tired  and  was  soon  fast  asleep.  The  next  night  the 
same  thing  occurred  again,  and  the  hermit  followed 
the  object  out,  only  to  be  left  as  befoie. 

He  was  very  angry  to  think  that  anyone  should 
be  trying  to  make  sport  of  him,  and  he  determined  to 
find  out  who  this  could  be  who  was  disturbing  his 
night's  rest. 

The  next  evening  he  cut  a  hole  in  the  tent  large 
enough  to  stick  an  arrow  through,  and  stood  by  the 
door  watching.  Soon  the  dark  object  came  and 
stopped  outside  of  the  door,  and  said:  "Grandfather, 

I  came  to ,"  but  he  never  finished  the  sentence, 

for  the  old  man  let  go  his  arrow,  and  he  heard  the 
arrow  strike  something  which  produced  a  sound  as 
though  he  had  shot  into  a  sack  of  pebbles.  He  did 
not  go  out  that  night  to  see  what  his  arrow  had 
struck,  but  early  next  morning  he  went  out  and  looked 
at  the  spot  about  where  he  thought  the  object  had 
stood.  There  on  the  ground  lay  a  little  heap  of 
corn,  and  from  this  little  heap  a  small  line  of  corn 
lay  scattered  along  a  path.  This  he  followed  far 
into  the  woods.  When  he  came  to  a  very  small 
knoll  the  trail  ended.  At  the  end  of  the  trail  was  a 
large  circle,  from  which  the  grass  had  been  scraped 
off  clean. 

"The  corn  trail  stops  at  the  edge  of  this  circle," 
—102— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

said  the  old  man,  "so  this  must  be  the  home  of  who 
ever  it  was  that  invited  me."  He  took  his  bone  knife 
and  hatchet  and  proceeded  to  dig  down  into  the  center 
of  the  circle.  When  he  had  got  down  to  the  length 
of  his  arm,  he  came  to  a  sack  of  dried  meat.  Next 
he  found  a  sack  of  Indian  turnips,  then  a  sack  of  dried 
cherries;  then  a  sack  of  corn,  and  last  of  all  another 
sack,  empty  except  that  there  was  about  a  cupful 
of  corn  in  one  corner  of  it,  and  that  the  sack  had  a 
hole  in  the  other  corner  where  his  arrow  had  pierced 
it.  From  this  hole  in  the  sack  the  corn  was  scat 
tered  along  the  trail,  which  guided  the  old  man  to 
the  cache.* 

From  this  the  hermit  taught  the  tribes  how  to  keep 
their  provisions  when  traveling  and  were  overloaded. 
He  explained  to  them  how  they  should  dig  a  pit  and 
put  their  provisions  into  it  and  cover  them  with  earth. 
By  this  method  the  Indians  used  to  keep  provisions 
all  summer,  and  when  fall  came  they  would  return 
to  their  cache,  and  on  opening  it  would  find  every 
thing  as  fresh  as  the  day  they  were  placed  there. 

The  old  hermit  was  also  thanked  as  the  discoverer 
of  corn,  which  had  never  been  known  to  the  Indians 
until  discovered  by  the  old  hermit. 


*Hiding  place. 

—103— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  BUTTE 


A  young  man  was  once  hunting  and  came  to  a 
steep  hill.  The  east  side  of  the  hill  suddenly  dropped 
off  to  a  very  steep  bank.  He  stood  on  this  bank, 
and  at  the  base  he  noticed  a  small  opening.  On  going 
down  to  examine  it  more  closely,  he  found  it  was 
large  enough  to  admit  a  horse  or  buffalo.  On  either 
side  of  the  door  were  figures  of  different  animals 
engraved  into  the  wall. 

He  entered  the  opening  and  there,  scattered  about 
on  the  floor,  lay  many  bracelets,  pipes  and  many  other 
things  of  ornament,  as  though  they  had  been  offer 
ings  to  some  great  spirit.  He  passed  through  this 
first  room  and  on  entering  the  second  it  was  so  dark 
that  he  could  not  see  his  hands  before  his  face,  so 
becoming  scared,  he  hurriedly  left  the  place,  and  re 
turning  home  told  what  he  had  seen. 

Upon  hearing  this  the  chief  selected  four  of  his 
most  daring  warriors  to  go  with  this  young  man  and 
investigate  and  ascertain  whether  the  young  man  was 
telling  the  truth  or  not.  The  five  proceeded  to  the 
butte,  and  at  the  entrance  the  young  man  refused  to 
go  inside,  as  the  figures  on  either  side  of  the  en 
trance  had  been  changed. 

The  four  entered  and  seeing  that  all  in  the  first 
chamber  was  as  the  young  man  had  told,  they  went 
on  to  the  next  chamber  and  found  it  so  dark  that 
they  could  not  see  anything.  They  continued  on,  how 
ever,  feeling  their  way  along  the  walls.  They  finally 

—104— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

found  an  entrance  that  was  so  narrow  that  they  had 
to  squeeze  into  it  sideways.  They  felt  their  way 
around  the  walls  and  found  another  entrance,  so  low 
down  that  they  had  to  crawl  on  their  hands  and  knees 
to  go  through  into  the  next  chamber. 

On  entering  the  last  chamber  they  found  a  very 
sweet  odor  coming  from  the  opposite  direction.  Feel 
ing  around  and  crawling  on  their  hands  and  knees, 
they  discovered  a  hole  in  the  floor  leading  downward. 
From  this  hole  came  up  the  sweet  odor.  They  hur 
riedly  held  a  council,  and  decided  to  go  no  further, 
but  return  to  the  camp  and  report  what  they  had 
found.  On  getting  to  the  first  chamber  one  of  the 
young  men  said :  "I  am  going  to  take  these  brace 
lets  to  show  that  we  are  telling  the  truth."  "No," 
said  the  other  three,  "this  being  the  abode  of  some 
Great  Spirit,  you  may  have  some  accident  befall  you 
for  taking  what  is  not  yours."  "Ah !  You  fellows 
are  like  old  women,"  said  he,  taking  a  fine  bracelet 
and  encircling  his  left  wrist  with  it. 

When  they  reached  the  village  they  reported  what 
they  had  seen.  The  young  man  exhibited  the  brace 
let  to  prove  that  it  was  the  truth  they  had  told. 

Shortly  after  this,  these  four  young  men  were  out 
fixing  up  traps  for  wolves.  They  would  raise  one 
end  of  a  heavy  log  and  place  a  stick  under,  bracing 
up  the  log.  A  large  piece  of  meat  was  placed  about 
five  feet  away  from  the  log  and  this  space  covered 
with  poles  and  willows.  At  the  place  where  the  up 
right  stick  was  put,  a  hole  was  left  open,  large  enough 

—105— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


to  admit  the  body  of  a  wolf.  The  wolf,  scenting  the 
meat  and  unable  to  get  at  it  through  the  poles  and 
willows,  would  crowd  into  the  hole  and  working  his 
body  forward,  in  order  to  get  the  meat,  would  push 
down  the  brace  and  the  log  thus  released  would  hold 
the  wolf  fast  under  its  weight. 


I 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  BUTTE 


The  young  man  with  the  bracelet  was  placing  his 
bait  under  the  log  when  he  released  the  log  by  knock 
ing  down  the  brace,  and  the  log  caught  his  wrist  on 
which  he  wore  the  bracelet.  He  could  not  release 
himself  and  called  loud  and  long  for  assistance.  His 
friends,  hearing  his  call,  came  to  his  assistance,  and 
on  lifting  the  log  found  the  young  man's  wrist  broken. 
"Now,"  said  they,  "you  have  been  punished  for  tak- 

—106— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

ing  the  wristlet  out  of  the  chamber  of  the  mysterious 
butte." 

Some  time  after  this  a  young  man  went  to  the 
butte  and  saw  engraved  on  the  wall  a  woman  holding 
in  her  hand  a  pole,  with  which  she  was  holding  up 
a  large  amount  of  beef  which  had  been  laid  across 
another  pole,  which  had  broken  in  two  from  the  weight 
of  so  much  meat. 

He  returned  to  the  camp  and  reported  what  he 
had  seen.  All  around  the  figure  he  saw  marks  of 
buffalo  hoofs,  also  marked  upon  the  wall. 

The  next  day  an  enormous  herd  of  buffalo  came 
near  to  the  village,  and  a  great  many  were  killed. 
The  women  were  busy  cutting  up  and  drying  the 
meat.  At  one  camp  was  more  meat  than  at  any  other. 
The  woman  was  hanging  meat  upon  a  long  tent  pole, 
when  the  pole  broke  in  two  and  she  was  obliged  to 
hold  the  meat  up  with  another  pole,  just  as  the  young 
man  saw  on  the  mysterious  butte. 

Ever  after  that  the  Indians  paid  weekly  visits  to 
this  butte,  and  thereon  would  read  the  signs  that  were 
to  govern  their  plans. 

This  butte  was  always  considered  the  prophet  of 
the  tribe. 


—107— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 


THE  WONDERFUL  TURTLE 


Near  to  a  Chippewa  village  lay  a  large  lake,  and 
in  this  lake  there  lived  an  enormous  turtle.  This  was 
no  ordinary  turtle,  as  he  would  often  come  out  of 
his  home  in  the  lake  and  visit  with  his  Indian  neigh 
bors.  He  paid  the  most  of  his  visits  to  the  head 
chief,  and  on  these  occasions  would  stay  for  hours, 
smoking  and  talking  with  him. 

The  chief,  seeing  that  the  turtle  was  very  smart 
and  showed  great  wisdom  in  his  talk,  took  a  great 
fancy  to  him,  and  whenever  any  puzzling  subject 
came  up  before  the  chief,  he  generally  sent  for  Mr. 
Turtle  to  help  him  decide. 

One  day  there  came  a  great  misunderstanding  be 
tween  different  parties  of  the  tribe,  and  so  excited 
became  both  sides  that  it  threatened  to  cause  blood 
shed.  The  chief  was  unable  to  decide  for  either  fac 
tion,  so  he  said,  "I  will  call  Mr.  Turtle.  He  will 
judge  for  you." 

Sending  for  the  turtle,  the  chief  vacated  his  seat 
for  the  time  being,  until  the  turtle  should  hear  both 
sides,  and  decide  which  was  in  the  right.  The  turtle 
came,  and  taking  the  chief's  seat,  listened  very  atten 
tively  to  both  sides,  and  thought  long  before  he  gave 
his  decision.  After  thinking  long  and  studying  each 
side  carefully,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  to  decide 
in  favor  of  both.  This  would  not  cause  any  hard 
feelings.  So  he  gave  them  a  lengthy  speech  and 
—108 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

showed  them  where  they  were  both  in  the  right,  and 
wound  up  by  saying : 

"You  are  both  in  the  right  in  some  ways  and 
wrong  in  others.  Therefore,  I  will  say  that  you  both 
are  equally  in  the  right." 

When  they  heard  this  decision,  they  saw  that  the 
turtle  was  right,  and  gave  him  a  long  cheer  for  the 
wisdom  displayed  by  him.  The  whole  tribe  saw  that 
had  it  not  been  for  this  wise  decision  there  would 
have  been  a  great  shedding  of  blood  in  the  tribe.  So 
they  voted  him  as  their  judge,  and  the  chief,  being 
so  well  pleased  with  him,  gave  to  him  his  only  daugh 
ter  in  marriage. 

The  daughter  of  the  chief  was  the  most  beautiful 
maiden  of  the  Chippewa  nation,  and  young  men  from 
other  tribes  traveled  hundreds  of  miles  for  an  op 
portunity  to  make  love  to  her,  and  try  to  win  her  for 
a  wife.  It  was  all  to  no  purpose.  She  would  accept 
no  one,  only  him  whom  her  father  would  select  for 
her.  The  turtle  was  very  homely,  but  as  he  was 
prudent  and  wise,  the  father  chose  him,  and  she  ac 
cepted  him. 

The  young  men  of  the  tribe  were  very  jealous,  but 
their  jealousy  was  all  to  no  purpose.  She  married 
the  turtle.  The  young  men  would  make  sport  of  the 
chief's  son-in-law.  They  would  say  to  him:  "How 
did  you  come  to  have  so  flat  a  stomach?"  The  turtle 
answered  them,  saying : 

"My  friends,  had  you  been  in  my  place,  you  too 
would  have  flat  stomachs.  I  came  by  my  flat  stomach 

—109— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.       SIOUX 


THE  CHIEF  GIVES  HIS  DAUGHTER  TO  HIS  WIFE'S 
TURTLE  FRIEND  IN  MARRIAGE 


—110— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      ./.      SIOUX 

in  this  way :  The  Chippewas  and  Sioux  had  a  great 
battle,  and  the  Sioux,  too  numerous  for  the  Chip 
pewas,  were  killing  them  off  so  fast  that  they  had  to 
run  for  their  lives.  I  was  on  the  Chippewa  side  and 
some  of  the  Sioux  were  pressing  five  of  us,  and  were 
gaining  on  us  very  fast.  Coining  to  some  high  grass, 
I  threw  myself  down  flat  on  my  face,  and  pressed 
my  stomach  close  to  the  ground,  so  the  pursuers  could 
not  see  me.  They  passed  me  and  killed  the  four  I 
was  with.  After  they  had  gone  back,  I  arose  and  lo ! 
my  stomach  was  as  you  see  it  now.  So  hard  had 
I  pressed  to  the  ground  that  it  would  not  assume  its 
original  shape  again." 

After  he  had  explained  the  cause  of  his  deformity 
to  them,  they  said:  "The  Turtle  is  brave.  We  will 
bother  him  no  more."  Shortly  after  this  the  Sioux 
made  an  attack  upon  the  Chippewas,  and  every  one 
deserted  the  village.  The  Turtle  could  not  travel 
as  fast  as  the  rest  and  was  left  behind.  It  being 
an  unusually  hot  day  in  the  fall,  the  Turtle  grew 
very  thirsty  and  sleepy.  Finally  scenting  water,  he 
crawled  towards  the  point  from  whence  the  scent 
came,  and  coming  to  a  large  lake  jumped  in  and  had 
a  bath,  after  which  he  swam  towards  the  center  and 
dived  down,  and  finding  some  fine  large  rocks  at  the 
bottom,  he  crawled  in  among  them  and  fell  asleep. 
He  had  his  sleep  out  and  arose  to  the  top. 

Swimming  to  shore  he  found  it  was  summer.     He 
had  slept  all   winter.     The  birds   were   singing,   and 
the  green  grass  and  leaves  gave  forth  a  sweet  odor, 
—in— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

He  crawled  out  and  started  out  looking  for  the 
Chippewa  camp.  He  came  upon  the  camp  several  days 
after  he  had  left  his  winter  quarters,  and  going  around 
in  search  of  his  wife,  found  her  at  the  extreme  edge 
of  the  village.  She  was  nursing  her  baby,  and  as  he 
asked  to  see  it,  she  showed  it  to  him.  When  he  saw 
that  it  was  a  lovely  baby  and  did  not  resemble  him 
in  any  respect,  he  got  angry  and  went  off  to  a  large 
lake,  where  he  contented  himself  with  catching  flies 
and  insects  and  living  on  seaweed  the  remainder  of 
his  life. 


-112— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 
THE  MAN  AND  THE  OAK 

There  once  lived  a  Sioux  couple  who  had  two 
children,  a  boy  and  a  girl.  Every  fall  this  family 
would  move  away  from  the  main  camp  and  take  up 
their  winter  quarters  in  a  grove  of  timber  some  dis 
tance  from  the  principal  village.  The  reason  they  did 
this  was  that  he  was  a  great  hunter  and  where  a  vil 
lage  was  located  for  the  winter  the  game  was  usually 
very  scarce.  Therefore,  he  always  camped  by  him 
self  in  order  to  have  an  abundance  of  game  adjacent 
to  his  camp. 

All  summer  he  had  roamed  around  following  the 
tribe  to  wherever  their  fancy  might  take  them.  Dur 
ing  their  travels  this  particular  year  there  came  to 
the  village  a  strange  girl  who  had  no  relatives  there. 
No  one  seemed  very  anxious  to  take  her  into  their 
family,  so  the  great  hunter's  daughter,  taking  a  fancy 
to  the  poor  girl,  took  her  to  their  home  and  kept  her. 
She  addressed  her  as  sister,  and  the  parents,  on  ac 
count  of  their  daughter,  addressed  her  as  daughter. 

This  strange  girl  became  desperately  in  love  with 
the  young  man  of  the  family,  but  being  addressed  as 
daughter  by  the  parents,  she  could  not  openly  show 
her  feelings  as  the  young  man  was  considered  her 
brother. 

In  the  fall  when  the  main  village  moved  into  a 
large  belt  of  timber  for  their  winter  quarters,  the 
hunter  moved  on  to  another  place  two  days'  travel 

—113— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

from  the  main  winter  camp,  where  he  would  not  be 
disturbed  by  any  other  hunters. 

The  young  man  had  a  tent  by  himself,  and  it  was 
always  kept  nice  and  clean  by  his  sister,  who  was 
very  much  attached  to  him.  After  a  long  day's  hunt 
in  the  woods,  he  would  go  into  his  tent  and  lie  down 
to  rest,  and  when  his  supper  was  ready  his  sister  would 
say,  "My  brother  is  so  tired.  I  will  carry  his  sup 
per  to  him." 

Her  friend,  whom  she  addressed  as  sister,  would 
never  go  into  the  young  man's  tent.  Along  towards 
spring  there  came  one  night  into  the  young  man's  tent 
a  woman.  She  sat  down  by  the  door  and  kept  her 
face  covered  so  that  it  was  hidden  from  view. 
She  sat  there  a  long  time  and  finally  arose  and  went 
away.  The  young  man  could  not  imagine  who  this 
could  be.  He  knew  that  it  was  a  long  distance  from 
the  village  and  could  not  make  out  where  the  woman 
could  have  come  from.  The  next  night  the  woman 
came  again  and  this  time  she  came  a  little  nearer  to 
where  the  young  man  lay.  She  sat  down  and  kept 
her  face  covered  as  before.  Neither  spoke  a  word. 
She  sat  there  for  a  long  time  and  then  arose  and  de 
parted.  He  was  very  much  puzzled  over  the  ac 
tions  of  this  woman  and  decided  to  ascertain  on  her 
next  visit  who  she  was. 

He  kindled  a  small  fire  in  his  tent  and  had  some 
ash  wood  laid  on  it  so  as  to  keep  fire  a  long  time,  as 
ash  burns  very  slowly  and  holds  fire  a  long  time. 

The  third  night  the  woman  came  again  and  sat 

—114— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


THE  LIGHTNING  MAN  TAKES  HIS  BRIDE  TO  THE 

CLOUDS  FOR  RELEASING  HER  BROTHER 

FROM  THE  TREE 


—115— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

down  still  nearer  his  bed.  She  held  her  blanket  open 
just  a  trifle,  and  he,  catching  up  one  of  the  embers, 
flashed  it  in  her  face ;  jumping  up  she  ran  hurriedly 
out  of  the  tent.  The  next  morning  he  noticed  that 
his  adopted  sister  kept  her  face  hidden  with  her  blan 
ket.  She  chanced  to  drop  her  blanket  while  in  the 
act  of  pouring  out  some  soup,  and  when  she  did  so 
he  noticed  a  large  burned  spot  on  her  cheek. 

He  felt  so  sorry  for  what  he  had  done  that  he 
could  eat  no  breakfast,  but  went  outside  and  lay  down 
under  an  oak  tree.  All  day  long  he  lay  there  gaz 
ing  up  into  the  tree,  and  when  he  was  called  for 
supper  he  refused,  saying  that  he  was  not  hungry, 
and  for  them  not  to  bother  him,  as  he  would  soon 
get  up  and  go  to  bed.  Far  into  the  night  he  lay 
thus,  and  when  he  tried  to  arise  he  could  not,  as  a 
small  oak  tree  grew  through  the  center  of  his  body 
and  held  him  fast  to  the  ground. 

In  the  morning  when  the  family  awoke  they 
found  the  girl  had  disappeared,  and  on  going  out 
side  the  sister  discovered  her  brother  held  fast  to 
the  earth  by  an  oak  tree  which  grew  very  rapidly. 
In  vain  were  the  best  medicine  men  of  the  tribe  sent 
for.  Their  medicine  was  of  no  avail.  They  said : 
"If  the  tree  is  cut  down  the  young  man  will  die." 

The  sister  was  wild  with  grief,  and  extending 
her  hands  to  the  sun,  she  cried:  "Great  Spirit,  re 
lieve  my  suffering  brother.  Any  one  who  releases 
him  I  will  marry,  be  he  young,  old,  homely  or  de 
formed." 

—116— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

Several  days  after  the  young  man  had  met  with 
the  mishap,  there  came  to  the  tent  a  very  tall  man, 
who  had  a  bright  light  encircling  his  body.  "Where  is 
the  girl  who  promised  to  marry  any  one  who  would 
release  her  brother?"  "I  am  the  one,"  said  the  young 
man's  sister.  "I  am  the  all-powerful  lightning  and 
thunder.  I  see  all  things  and  can  kill  at  one  stroke  a 
whole  tribe.  When  I  make  my  voice  heard  the  rocks 
shake  loose  and  go  rattling  down  the  hillsides.  The 
brave  warriors  cower  shivering  under  some  shelter 
at  the  sound  of  my  voice.  The  girl  whom  you  had 
adopted  as  your  sister  was  a  scorceress.  She  be 
witched  your  brother  because  he  would  not  let  her 
make  love  to  him.  On  my  way  here  I  met  her  trav 
eling  towards  the  west,  and  knowing  what  she  had 
done,  I  struck  her  with  one  of  my  blazing  swords, 
and  she  lies  there  now  a  heap  of  ashes.  I  will  now 
release  your  brother." 

So  saying  he  placed  his  hand  on  the  tree  and  in 
stantly  it  crumbled  to  ashes.  The  young  man  arose, 
and  thanked  his  deliverer. 

Then  they  saw  a  great  black  cloud  approaching, 
and  the  man  said:  "Make  ready,  we  shall  go  home 
on  that  cloud."  As  the  cloud  approached  near  to  the 
man  who  stood  with  his  bride,  it  suddenly  lowered 
and  enveloped  them  and  with  a  great  roar  and  amidst 
flashes  of  lightning  and  loud  peals  of  thunder  the 
girl  ascended  and  disappeared  into  the  west  with  her 
Thunder  and  Lightning  husband. 

—117— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


STORY  OF  THE  TWO  YOUNG  FRIENDS 


There  were  once  in  a  very  large  Indian  camp  two 
little  boys  who  were  fast  friends.  One  of  the  boys, 
"Chaske"  (meaning  first  born),  was  the  son  of  a 
very  rich  family,  and  was  always  dressed  in  the  fin 
est  of  clothes  of  Indian  costume.  The  other  boy, 
"Hake"  (meaning  last  born),  was  an  orphan  and 
lived  with  his  old  grandmother,  who  was  very  desti 
tute,  and  consequently  could  not  dress  the  boy  in  fine 
raiment.  So  poorly  was  the  boy  dressed  that  the 
who  had  good  clothes  always  tormented  him  and 
would  not  play  in  his  company. 

Chaske   did   not   look   at   the   clothes   of   any   boy 
whom  he  chose  as  a  friend,  but  mingled  with  all  boys 
regardless  of  how  they  were  clad,  and  would  study 
their  dispositions.     The  well  dressed  he  found  wereX/ 
vain  and  conceited.    The  fairly  well  dressed  he  found   ; 
selfish  and  spiteful.     The  poorly  clad  he  found  to  be  V 
generous  and  truthful,  and  from  all  of  them  he  chose 
"Hake"   for  his  "Koda"    (friend).     As   Chaske   was 
the  son  of  the  leading  war  chief  he  was  very  much 
sought  after  by  the  rest  of  the  boys,  each  one  try 
ing  to  gain  the  honor  of  being  chosen  for  the  friend 
and   companion   of  the   great   chief's   son ;   but,    as   I 
have  before  said,  Chaske  carefully  studied  them  all 
and  finally  chose  the  orphan  Hake. 

It  was  a  lucky  day  for  Hake  when  he  was  chosen 
for  the  friend  and  companion  of  Chaske.  The  or 
phan  boy  was  taken  to  the  lodge  of  his  friend's  par- 

—118— 


^ 
J 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

ents  and  dressed  up  in  fine  clothes  and     moccasins. 
(When  the  Indians'  sons  claim  any  one  as  their  friend,  V 
the  friend  thus  chosen  is  adopted  into  the  family  as 
their  own  son). 

Chaske  and  Hake  were  inseparable.  Where  one 
was  seen  the  other  was  not  far  distant.  They  played, 
hunted,  trapped,  ate  and  slept  together.  They  would 
spend  most  of  the  long  summer  days  hunting  in  the 
forests. 

Time  went  on  and  these  two  fast  friends  grew  up 
to  be  fine  specimens  of  their  tribe.  When  they  became 
the  age  to  select  a  sweetheart  they  would  go  together 
and  make  love  to  a  girl.  Each  helping  the  other  to 
win  the  affection  of  the  one  of  his  choice.  Chaske 
loved  a  girl  who  was  the  daughter  of  an  old  medicine 
man.  She  was  very  much  courted  by  the  other  young 
men  of  the  tribe,  and  many  a  horse  loaded  with  robes 
and  fine  porcupine  work  was  tied  at  the  medicine 
man's  tepee  in  offering  for  the  hand  of  his  daughter, 
but  the  horses,  laden  as  when  tied  there,  were  turned 
loose,  signifying  that  the  offer  was  not  accepted. 

The  girl's  choice  was  Chaske's  friend  Hake.  Al 
though  he  had  never  made  love  to  her  for  himself, 
he  had  always  used  honeyed  words  to  her  and  was  al 
ways  loud  in  his  praises  for  his  friend  Chaske.  One 
night  the  two  friends  had  been  to  see  the  girl,  and 
on  their  return  Chaske  was  very  quiet,  having  noth 
ing  to  say  and  seemingly  in  deep  study.  Always  of 
a  bright,  jolly  and  amiable  disposition,  his  silence  and 
moody  spell  grieved  his  friend  very  much,  and  he 

—119— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

finally  spoke  to  Chaske,  saying :  "Koda,  what  has 
come  over  you?  You  who  were  always  so  jolly  and 
full  of  fun?  Your  silence  makes  me  grieve  for  you 
and  I  do  not  know  what  you  are  feeling  so  down 
hearted  about.  Has  the  girl  said  anything  to  you 
to  make  you  feel  thus?" 

"Wait,  friend,"  said  Chaske,  "until  morning,  and 
then  I  will  know  how  to  answer  your  inquiry.  Don't 
ask  me  anything  more  tonight,  as  my  heart  is  hav 
ing  a  great  battle  with  my  brain." 

Hake  bothered  his  friend  no  more  that  night,  but 
he  could  not  sleep.  He  kept  wondering  what  "Pretty 
Feather"  (the  girl  whom  his  friend  loved)  could  have 
said  to  Chaske  to  bring  such  a  change  over  him.  Hake 
never  suspected  that  he  himself  was  the  cause  of  his 
friend's  sorrow,  for  never  did  he  have  a  thought  that 
it  was  himself  that  Pretty  Feather  loved. 

The  next  morning  after  they  had  eaten  breakfast, 
Chaske  proposed  that  they  should  go  out  on  the 
prairies,  and  see  if  they  would  have  the  good  luck  to 
kill  an  antelope.  Hake  went  out  and  got  the  band  of 
horses,  of  which  there  were  over  a  hundred.  They 
selected  the  fleetest  two  in  the  herd,  and  taking  their 
bows  and  arrows,  mounted  and  rode  away  towards 
the  south. 

Hake  was  overjoyed  to  note  the  change  in  his 
friend.  His  oldtime  jollity  had  returned.  They  rode 
out  about  five  miles,  and  scaring  up  a  drove  of  an 
telope  they  started  in  hot  pursuit,  and  as  their  horses 
were  very  fleet  of  foot  soon  caught  up  to  the  drove, 
—120— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

and  each  singling  out  his  choice  quickly  dispatched 
him  with  an  arrow.  They  could  easily  have  killed 
more  of  the  antelope,  but  did  not  want  to  kill  them 
just  for  sport,  but  for  food,  and  knowing  that  they 
had  now  all  that  their  horses  could  pack  home,  they 
dismounted  and  proceeded  to  dress  their  kill. 

After  each  had  finished  packing  the  kill  on  his 
horse,  Chaske  said :  "Let  us  sit  down  and  have  a  smoke 
before  we  start  back.  Besides,  I  have  something  to 
tell  you  which  I  can  tell  better  sitting  still  than  I  can 
riding  along."  Hake  came  and  sat  down  opposite  his 
friend,  and  while  they  smoked  Chaske  said: 

"My  friend,  we  have  been  together  for  the  last 
twenty  years  and  I  have  yet  the  first  time  to  deceive 
you  in  any  way,  and  I  know  I  can  truthfully  say  the 
same  of  you.  Never  have  I  known  you  to  deceive 
me  nor  tell  me  an  untruth.  I  have  no  brothers  or 
sisters.  The  only  brother's  love  I  know  is  yours.  The 
only  sister's  love  I  will  know  will  be  Pretty  Feather's, 
for  brother,  last  night  she  told  me  she  loved  none 
but  you  and  would  marry  you  and  you  only.  So, 
brother,  I  am  going  to  take  my  antelope  to  my  sis 
ter-in-law's  tent  and  deposit  it  at  her  door.  Then  she 
will  know  that  her  wish  will  be  fulfilled.  I  thought 
at  first  that  you  had  been  playing  traitor  to  me  and 
had  been  making  love  to  her  for  yourself,  but  when 
she  explained  it  all  to  me  and  begged  me  to  intercede 
for  her  to  you,  I  then  knew  that  I  had  judged  you 
wrongfully,  and  that,  together  with  my  lost  love,  made 
me  so  quiet  and  sorrowful  last  night.  So  now, 
—121— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

brother,  take  the  flower  of  the  nation  for  your  wife, 
and  I  will  be  content  to  continue  through  life  a  lonely 
bachelor,  as  never  again  can  I  give  any  woman  the 
place  which  Pretty  Feather  had  in  my  heart." 

Their  pipes  being  smoked  out  they  mounted  their 
ponies  and  Chaske  started  up  in  a  clear,  deep  voice 
the  beautiful  love  song  of  Pretty  Feather  and  his 
friend  Hake. 

Such  is  the  love  between  two  friends,  who  claim 
to  be  as  brothers  among  the  Indians.  Chaske  gave 
up  his  love  of  a  beautiful  woman  for  a  man  who  was 
in  fact  no  relation  to  him. 

Hake  said,  "I  will  do  as  you  say,  my  friend,  but 
before  I  can  marry  the  medicine  man's  daughter,  I 
will  have  to  go  on  the  warpath  and  do  some  brave 
deed,  and  will  start  in  ten  days."  They  rode  towards 
home,  planning  which  direction  they  would  travel, 
and  as  it  was  to  be  their  first  experience  on  the  war 
path,  they  would  seek  advice  from  the  old  warriors 
of  the  tribe. 

On  their  arrival  at  the  village  Hake  took  his  kill 
to  their  own  tent,  while  Chaske  took  his  to  the  tent 
of  the  Medicine  Man,  and  deposited  it  at  the  door 
and  rode  off  towards  home. 

The  mother  of  Pretty  Feather  did  not  know 
whether  to  take  the  offering  or  not,  but  Pretty  Feather, 
seeing  by  this  offering  that  her  most  cherished  wish 
was  to  be  granted,  told  her  mother  to  take  the  meat 
and  cook  it  and  invite  the  old  women  of  the  camp 
to  a  feast  in  honor  of  the  son-in-law  who  was  soon 

—122— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

to  keep  them  furnished  with  plenty  of  meat.  Hake 
and  his  friend  sought  out  all  of  the  old  warriors  and 
gained  all  the  information  they  desired.  Every  even 
ing  Hake  visited  his  intended  wife  and  many  happy 
evenings  they  spent  together. 

The  morning  of  the  tenth  day  the  two  friends  left 
the  village  and  turned  their  faces  toward  the  west 
where  the  camps  of  the  enemy  are  more  numerous 
than  in  any  other  direction.  They  were  not  mounted 
and  therefore  traveled  slowly,  so  it  took  about  ten  days 
of  walking  before  they  saw  any  signs  of  the  enemy. 
The  old  warriors  had  told  them  of  a  thickly  wooded 
creek  within  the  enemies'  bounds.  The  old  men  said, 
"That  creek  looks  the  ideal  place  to  camp,  but  don't 
camp  there  by  any  means,  because  there  is  a  ghost 
who  haunts  that  creek,  and  any  one  who  camps  there 
is  disturbed  all  through  the  night,  and  besides  they 
never  return,  because  the  ghost  is  Wakan  (holy), 
and  the  enemies  conquer  the  travelers  every  time." 
The  friends  had  extra  moccasins  with  them  and  one 
extra  blanket,  as  it  was  late  in  the  fall  and  the  nights 
were  very  cold. 

They  broke  camp  early  one  morning  and  walked 
all  day.  Along  towards  evening,  the  clouds  which 
had  been  threatening  all  day,  hurriedly  opened  their 
doors  and  down  came  the  snowflakes  thick  and  fast. 
Just  before  it  started  snowing  the  friends  had  noticed 
a  dark  line  about  two  miles  in  advance  of  them. 
Chaske  spoke  to  his  friend  and  said:  "If  this  storm 
continues  we  will  be  obliged  to  stay  overnight  at 

—123— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

Ghost  Creek,  as  I  noticed  it  not  far  ahead  of  us,  just 
before  the  storm  set  in."  "I  noticed  it  also,"  said 
Hake.  "We  might  as  well  entertain  a  ghost  all  night 
as  to  lie  out  on  these  open  prairies  and  freeze  to 
death."  So  they  decided  to  run  the  risk  and  stay  in 
the  sheltering  woods  of  Ghost  Creek.  When  they 
got  to  the  creek  it  seemed  as  if  they  had  stepped 
inside  a  big  tepee,  so  thick  was  the  brush  and  tim 
ber  that  the  wind  could  not  be  felt  at  all.  They  hunted 
and  found  a  place  where  the  brush  was  very  thick 
and  the  grass  very  tall.  They  quickly  pulled  the  tops 
of  the  nearest  willows  together  and  by  intertwining 
the  ends  made  them  fast,  and  throwing  their  tent 
robe  over  this,  soon  had  a  cosy  tepee  in  which  to 
sleep.  They  started  their  fire  and  cooked  some  dried 
buffalo  meat  and  buffalo  tallow,  and  were  just  about 
to  eat  their  supper  when  a  figure  of  a  man  came 
slowly  in  through  the  door  and  sat  down  near  where 
he  had  entered.  Hake,  being  the  one  who  was  do 
ing  the  cooking,  poured  out  some  tea  into  his  own 
cup,  and  putting  a  piece  of  pounded  meat  and  marrow 
into  a  small  plate,  placed  it  before  the  stranger,  say 
ing:  "Eat,  my  friend,  we  are  on  the  warpath  and 
do  not  carry  much  of  a  variety  of  food  with  us,  but 
I  give  you  the  best  we  have." 

"^The  stranger  drew  the  plate  towards  him,  and 
commenced  eating  ravenously.  He  soon  finished  his 
meal  and  handed  the  dish  and  cup  back.  He  had  not 
uttered  a  word  so  far.  Chaske  filled  the  pipe  and 
handed  it  to  him.  He  smoked  for  a  few  minutes, 
—124— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

took  one  last  draw  from  the  pipe  and  handed  it  back 
to  Chaske,  and  then  he  said:  "Now,  my  friends,  I 
am  not  a  living  man,  but  the  wandering  spirit  of  a 
once  great  warrior,  who  was  killed  in  these  woods 
by  the  enemy  whom  you  two  brave  young  men  are 
now  seeking  to  make  war  upon.  For  years  I  have 
been  roaming  these  woods  in  hopes  that  I  might  find 


THE  YOUNG  MAN  AND  THE  GHOST 

some  one  brave  enough  to  stop  and  listen  to  me,  but 
all  who  have  camped  here  in  the  past  have  run  away 
at  my  approach  or  fired  guns  or  shot  arrows  at  me. 
For  such  cowards  as  these  I  have  always  found  a 
grave.  They  never  returned  to  their  homes.  Now 
I  have  found  two  brave  men  whom  I  can  tell  what 

—125— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

I  want  done,  and  if  you  accomplish  what  I  tell  you 
to  do,  you  will  return  home  with  many  horses  and 
some  scalps  dangling  from  your  belts.  Just  over  this 
range  of  hills  north  of  us,  a  large  village  is  encamped 
for  the  winter.  In  that  camp  is  the  man  who  laid  m^N 
ambush  and  shot  me,  killing  me  before  I  could  get  / 
a  chance  to  defend  myself.  I  want  that  man's  scalp," 
because  he  has  been  the  cause  of  my  wanderings  for 
a  great  many  years.  Had  he  killed  me  on  the  bat 
tlefield  my  spirit  would  have  at  once  joined  my  broth 
ers  in  the  happy  hunting  grounds,  but  being  killed 
by  a  coward,  my  spirit  is  doomed  to  roam  until  I 
can  find  some  brave  man  who  will  kill  this  coward 
and  bring  me  his  scalp.  This  is  why  I  have  tried 
every  party  who  have  camped  here  to  listen  to  me, 
but  as  I  have  said  before,  they  were  all  cowards.  Now, 
I  ask  you  two  brave  young  men,  will  you  do  this  for 
me?" 

"We  will,"  said  the  friends  in  one  voice.  "Thank 
you,  my  boys.  Now,  I  know  why  you  came  here,  and 
that  one  of  you  came  to  earn  his  feathers  by  killing  an 
enemy,  before  he  would  marry ;  the  girl  he  is  to  mar 
ry  is  my  granddaughter,  as  I  am  the  father  of  the 
great  Medicine  Man.  In  the  morning  there  will  pass  ^ 
by  in  plain  sight  of  here  a  large  party.  They  will 
chase  the  buffalo  over  on  that  flat.  After  they  have  \ 
passed  an  old  man  leading  a  black  horse  and  riding 
a  white  one  will  come  by  on  the  trail  left  by  the 
hunting  party.  He  will  be  driving  about  a  hundred 
horses,  which  he  will  leave  over  in  the  next  ravine. 
—126— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

He  will  then  proceed  to  the  hunting  grounds  and  get 
meat  from  the  different  hunters.  After  the  hunt 
ers  have  all  gone  home  he  will  come  last,  singing 
the  praises  of  the  ones  who  gave  him  the  meat.  This 
man  you  must  kill  and  scalp,  as  he  is  the  one  I  want 
killed.  Then  take  the  white  and  black  horse  and  each 
mount  and  go  to  the  hunting  grounds.  There  you 
will  see  two  of  the  enemy  riding  about  picking  up 
empty  shells.  Kill  and  scalp  these  two  and  each  take 
a  scalp  and  come  over  to  the  high  knoll  and  I  will 
show  you  where  the  horses  are,  and  as  soon  as  you 
hand  me  the  old  man's  scalp  I  will  disappear  and  you 
will  see  me  no  more.  As  soon  as  I  disappear,  it  will 
start  in  snowing.  Don't  be  afraid  as  the  snow  will 
cover  your  trail,  but  nevertheless,  don't  stop  traveling 
for  three  days  and  nights,  as  these  people  will  sus 
pect  that  some  of  your  tribe  have  done  this,  and  they 
will  follow  you  until  you  cross  your  own  boundary 
lines." 

When  morning  came,  the  two  friends  sat  in  the 
thick  brush  and  watched  a  large  party  pass  by  their 
hiding  place.  So  near  were  they  that  the  friends 
could  hear  them  laughing  and  talking.  After  the 
hunting  party  had  passed,  as  the  spirit  had  told  them, 
along  came  the  old  man,  driving  a  large  band  of 
horses  and  leading  a  fine  looking  coal  black  horse. 
The  horse  the  old  man  was  riding  was  as  white  as 
snow.  The  friends  crawled  to  a  little  brush  covered 
hill  and  watched  the  chase  after  the  shooting  had 
ceased.  The  friends  knew  it  would  not  be  long  be- 

—127— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

fore  the  return  of  the  party,  so  they  crawled  back 
to  their  camp  and  hurriedly  ate  some  pounded  meat 
and  drank  some  cherry  tea.  Then  they  took  down 
their  robe  and  rolled  it  up  and  got  everything  in 
readiness  for  a  hurried  flight  with  the  horses.  Scarce 
ly  had  they  got  everything  in  readiness  when  the 
party  came  by,  singing  their  song  of  the  chase.  When 
they  had  all  gone  the  friends  crawled  down  to  the 
trail  and  lay  waiting  for  the  old  man.  Soon  they 
heard  him  singing.  Nearer  and  nearer  came  the 
sounds  of  the  song  until  at  last  at  a  bend  in  the  road, 
the  old  man  came  into  view.  The  two  friends  arose 
and  advanced  to  meet  him.  On  he  came  still  sing 
ing.  No  doubt  he  mistook  them  for  some  of  his  own 
people.  When  he  was  very  close  to  them  they  each 
stepped  to  either  side  of  him  and  before  he  could 
make  an  outcry  they  pierced  his  cowardly  old  heart 
with  two  arrows.  He  had  hardly  touched  the  ground 
when  they  both  struck  him  with  their  bows,  winning 
first  and  second  honors  by  striking  an  enemy  after 
he  has  fallen.  Chaske  having  won  first  honors,  asked 
his  friend  to  perform  the  scalping  deed,  which  he  did. 
s^And  wanting  to  be  sure  that  the  spirit  would  get  full 
revenge,  took  the  whole  scalp,  ears  and  all,  and  tied 
it  to  his  belt.  The  buffalo  beef  which  the  old  man 
had  packed  upon  the  black  horse,  they  threw  on  the 
top  of  the  old  man.  Quickly  mounting  the  two  horses, 
they  hastened  out  across  the  long  flat  towards  the 
hunting  grounds.  When  they  came  in  sight  of  the 
grounds  there  they  saw  two  men  riding  about  from 

—128— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

place  to  place.  Chaske  took  after  the  one  on  the  right, 
Hake  the  one  on  the  left.  When  the  two  men  saw 
these  two  strange  men  riding  like  the  wind  towards 
them,  they  turned  their  horses  to  retreat  towards  the 
hills,  but  the  white  and  the  black  were  the  swiftest 
of  the  tribe's  horses,  and  quickly  overtook  the  two 
fleeing  men.  When  they  came  close  to  the  enemy 
they  strung  their  arrows  onto  the  bowstring  and  drove 
them  through  the  two  fleeing  hunters.  As  they  were 
falling  they  tried  to  shoot,  but  being  greatly  exhaust 
ed,  their  bullets  whistled  harmlessly  over  the  heads 
of  the  two  friends.  They  scalped  the  two  enemies 
and  took  their  guns  and  ammunition,  also  secured 
the  two  horses  and  started  for  the  high  knoll.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  place,  there  stood  the  spirit. 
Hake  presented  him  with  the  old  man's  scalp  and 
then  the  spirit  showed  them  the  large  band  of  horses, 
and  saying,  "Ride  hard  and  long,"  disappeared  and 
was  seen  no  more  by  any  war  parties,  as  he  was  thus  V 
enabled  to  join  his  forefathers  in  the  happy  hunting 
grounds. 

The  friends  did  as  the  spirit  had  told  them.  For 
three  days  and  three  nights  they  rode  steadily.  On 
the  fourth  morning  they  came  into  their  own  boun 
dary.  From  there  on  they  rode  more  slowly,  and 
let  the  band  of  horses  rest  and  crop  the  tops  of  long 
grass.  They  would  stop  occasionally,  and  while  one 
slept  the  other  kept  watch.  Thus  they  got  fairly  well 
rested  before  they  came  in  sight  of  where  their  camp 
had  stood  when  they  had  left.  All  that  they  could 

—129— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

see  of  the  once  large  village  was  the  lone  tent  of  the 
great  Medicine  Man.  They  rode  up  on  to  a  high  hill 
and  farther  on  towards  the  east  they  saw  smoke  from 
a  great  many  tepees.  They  then  knew  that  something 
had  happened  and  that  the  village  had  moved  away. 

"My  friend,"  said  Chaske,  "I  am  afraid  some 
thing  has  happened  to  the  Medicine  Man's  lodge, 
and  rather  than  have  you  go  there,  I  will  go  alone 
and  you  follow  the  trail  of  our  party  and  go  on  ahead 
with  the  horses.  I  will  take  the  black  and  the  white 
horses  with  me  and  I  will  follow  on  later,  after  I 
have  seen  what  the  trouble  is." 

"Very  well,  my  friend,  I  will  do  as  you  say,  but 
I  am  afraid  something  has  happened  to  Pretty  Feath 
er."  Hake  started  on  with  the  horses,  driving  them 
along  the  broad  trail  left  by  the  hundreds  of  travois. 
Chaske  made  slowly  towards  the  tepee,  and  stopping 
outside,  stood  and  listened.  Not  a  sound  could  he 
hear.  The  only  living  thing  he  saw  was  Pretty 
Feather's  spotted  horse  tide  to  the  side  of  the  tent. 
Then  he  knew  that  she  must  be  dead.  He  rode  off 
into  the  thick  brush  and  tied  his  two  horses  secure 
ly.  Then  he  came  back  and  entered  the  tepee.  There 
on  a  bed  of  robes  lay  some  one  apparently  dead.  The 
body  was  wrapped  in  blankets  and  robes  and  bound 
around  and  around  with  parflesh  ropes.  These  he 
carefully  untied  and  unwound.  Then  he  unwrapped 
the  robes  and  blankets  and  when  he  uncovered  the 
face,  he  saw,  as  he  had  expected  to,  the  face  of  his 
lost  love,  Pretty  Feather.  As  he  sat  gazing  on  her 

—130— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

beautiful  young  face,  his  heart  ached  for  his  poor 
friend.  He  himself  had  loved  and  lost  this  beautiful 
maiden,  and  now  his  friend  who  had  won  her  would 
have  to  suffer  the  untold  grief  which  he  had  suffered. 
What  was  that?  Could  it  have  been  a  slight  quiv 
ering  of  the  nostrils  that  he  had  seen,  or  was  it  mad 
fancy  playing  a  trick  on  him?  Closer  he  drew  to  her 
face,  watching  intently  for  another  sign.  There  it 
was  again,  only  this  time  it  was  a  long,  deep  drawn 
breath.  He  arose,  got  some  water  and  taking  a  small 
stick  slowly  forced  open  her  mouth  and  poured  some 
into  it.  Then  he  took  some  sage,  dipped  it  into  the\/ 
water  and  sprinkled  a  little  on  her  head  and  face. 
There  were  many  parflesh  bags  piled  around  the  te 
pee,  and  thinking  he  might  find  some  kind  of  medi 
cine  roots  which  he  could  use  to  revive  her  he  start 
ed  opening  them  one  after  the  other.  He  had  opened 
three  and  was  just  opening  the  fourth,  when  a  voice 
behind  him  asked:  "What  are  you  looking  for?" 
Turning  quickly,  he  saw  Pretty  Feather  looking  at 
him.  Overjoyed,  he  cried,  "What  can  I  do  so  that 
you  can  get  up  and  ride  to  the  village  with  me?  My 
friend  and  I  just  returned  with  a  large  band  of  horses 
and  two  scalps.  We  saw  this  tent  and  recognized  it. 
My  friend  wanted  to  come,  but  I  would  not  let  him, 
as  I  feared  if  he  found  anything  had  happened  to 
\-vou  he  would  do  harm  to  himself,  but  now  he  will 
be  anxious  for  my  return,  so  if  you  will  tell  me  what 
you  need  in  order  to  revive  you,  I  will  get  it,  and  we 
can  then  go  to  my  friend  in  the  village."  "At  the 

—131— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

foot  of  my  bed  you  will  find  a  piece  of  eagle  fat. 
Build  a  fire  and  melt  it  for  me.  I  will  drink  it  and 
then  we  can  go." 

Chaske  quickly  started  a  fire,  got  out  the  piece  of 
fat  and  melted  it.  She  drank  it  at  one  draught,  and 
was  about  to  arise  when  she  suddenly  said:  "Roll 
me  up  quick  and  take  the  buffalo  hair  rope  and  tie  it 
about  my  spotted  horse's  neck;  tie  his  tail  in  a  knot 
and  tie  him  to  the  door.  Then  run  and  hide  behind 
the  trees.  There  are  two  of  the  enemy  coming  this 
way." 

Chaske  hurriedly  obeyed  her  orders,  and  had  bare 
ly  concealed  himself  behind  the  trees,  when  there 
came  into  view  two  of  the  enemy.  They  saw  the  horse 
tied  to  the  door  of  the  deserted  tent,  and  knew  that 
some  dead  person  occupied  the  tepee,  so  through  re 
spect  for  the  dead,  they  turned  out  and  started  to  go 
through  the  brush  and  trees,  so  as  not  to  pass  the 
door.  (The  Indians  consider  it  a  bad  omen  to  pass 
by  the  door  of  a  tepee  occupied  by  a  dead  body,  that 
is,  while  in  the  enemy's  country).  So  by  making 
this  detour  they  traveled  directly  towards  where 
Chaske  was  concealed  behind  the  tree.  Knowing  that 
he  would  be  discovered,  and  there  being  two  of  them, 
he  knew  the  only  chance  he  had  was  for  him  to  kill 
one  of  them  before  they  discovered  him,  then  he 
stood  a  better  chance  at  an  even  combat.  On  they 
came,  little  thinking  that  one  of  them  would  in  a  few 
minutes  be  with  his  forefathers. 

Chaske  noiselessly  slipped  a  cartridge  into  the 
—132— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

chamber  of  his  gun,  threw  it  into  action  and  took  de 
liberate  aim  at  the  smaller  one's  breast.  A  loud  re 
port  rang  out  and  the  one  he  had  aimed  at  threw  up 
his  arms  and  fell  heavily  forward,  shot  through  the 
heart. 

Reloading  quickly  Chaske  stepped  out  from  be 
hind  the  tree.  He  could  easily  have  killed  the  other 
from  his  concealed  position,  but,  being  a  brave  young  V 
man,  he  wanted  to  give  his  opponent  a  fair  chance. 
The  other  had  unslung  his  gun  and  a  duel  was  then 
fought  between  the  two  lone  combatants.  They  would 
spring  from  side  to  side  like  two  great  cats.  Then 
advance  one  or  two  steps  and  fire.  Retreat  a  few 
steps,  spring  to  one  side  and  fire  again.  The  bul 
lets  whistled  past  their  heads,  tore  up  the  earth  be 
neath  their  feet,  and  occasionally  one  would  hit  its 
mark,  only  to  cause  a  flesh  wound. 

Suddenly  the  enemy  aimed  his  gun  and  threw  it 
upon  the  ground.  His  ammunition  was  exhausted, 
and  slowly  folding  his  arms  he  stood  facing  his  op 
ponent,  with  a  fearless  smile  upon  his  face,  expecting 
the  next  moment  to  fall  dead  from  a  bullet  from  theK 
rifle  of  Chaske.  Not  so.  Chaske  was  too  honorable  A 
and  noble  to  kill  an  unarmed  man,  and  especially 
one  who  had  put  up  such  a  brave  fight  as  had  this 
man.  Chaske  advanced  and  picked  up  the  empty 
gun.  The  Toka  (enemy)  drew  from  a  scabbard  at 
his  belt  a  long  bowie  knife,  and  taking  it  by  the  point 
handed  it,  handle  first,  to  Chaske.  This  signified  s 
render.  Chaske  scalped  the  dead  Toka  and  motioned 

—133— 


/ 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

for  his  prisoner  to  follow  him.  In  the  meantime 
Pretty  Feather  had  gotten  up  and  stood  looking  at 
the  duel.  When  she  heard  the  first  shot  she  jumped 
up  and  cut  a  small  slit  in  the  tent  from  which  she 
saw  the  whole  proceedings.  Knowing  that  one  or 
both  of  them  must  be  wounded,  she  hurriedly  got 
water  and  medicine  roots,  and  when  they  came  to  the 
tent  she  was  prepared  to  dress  their  wounds. 

Chaske  had  a  bullet  through  his  shoulder  and  one 
through  his  hand.  They  were  very  painful  but  not 
dangerous.  The  prisoner  had  a  bullet  through  his 
leg,  also  one  through  the  muscle  of  his  left  arm. 
Pretty  Feather  washed  and  dressed  their  wounds,  and 
Chaske  went  and  brought  the  black  and  white  horses 
and  mounting  Pretty  Feather  upon  the  white  horse, 
and  the  prisoner  on  her  spotted  one,  the  three  soon 
rode  into  the  village,  and  there  was  a  great  cry  of 
joy  when  it  was  known  that  Pretty  Feather  had  come 
back  to  them  again. 

Hake,  who  was  in  his  tent  grieving,  was  told 
that  his  friend  had  returned  and  with  him  Pretty 
Feather.  Hearing  this  good  news  he  at  once  went 
to  the  Medicine  Man's  tent  and  found  the  Medicine 
Man  busily  dressing  the  wounds  of  his  friend  and  a 
stranger.  The  old  Medicine  Man  turned  to  Hake  and 
said  : 

"Son-in-law,  take  your  wife  home  with  you.     It 

was  from  grief  at  your  absence  that  she  went  into  a 

trance,  and  we,  thinking  she  was  dead,  left  her  for 

such.     Hadn't  it  been  for  your  friend  here,  she  would 

—134— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

surely  have  been  a  corpse  now.  So  take  her  and  keep 
her  with  you  always,  and  take  as  a  present  from  me 
fifty  of  my  best  horses." 

Hake  and  his  beautiful  bride  went  home,  where 
his  adopted  mother  had  a  fine  large  tent  put  up  for 
them.  Presents  of  cooking  utensils,  horses,  robes  and 
finely  worked  shawls  and  moccasins  came  from  every 
direction,  and  last  of  all  Chaske  gave  as  a  present 
to  his  friend  the  Toka  man  whom  he  had  taken  as 
prisoner.  On  presenting  him  with  this  gift,  Chaske 
spoke  thus : 

"My  friend,  I  present  to  you,  that  you  may  have 
him  as  a  servant  to  look  after  your  large  band  of 
horses,  this  man  with  whom  I  fought  a  two  hours' 
duel,  and  had  his  ammunition  lasted  he  would  prob 
ably  have  conquered  me,  and  who  gave  me  the  sec 
ond  hardest  fight  of  my  life. 

The  hardest  fight  of  my  life  was  when  I  gave  up 
Pretty  Feather.  You  have  them  both.  To  the  Toka 
(enemy)  be  kind,  and  he  will  do  all  your  biddings. 
To  Pretty  Feather  be  a  good  husband." 

So  saying,  Chaske  left,  them,  and  true  to  his  word, 
lived  the  remainder  of  his  days  a  confirmed  bachelor. 


—135— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PET  CROW 


Once  upon  a  time  there  came  to  a  large  village  a 
plague  of  crows.  So  thick  were  they  that  the  poor 
women  were  sorely  tried  keeping  them  out  of  their 
tepees  and  driving  them  away  from  their  lines  of 
jerked  buffalo  meat.  Indeed  they  got  so  numerous 
and  were  such  a  great  nuisance  that  the  Chief  finally 
gave  orders  to  his  camp  criers  or  heralds  to  go  out 
among  the  different  camps  and  announce  the  or 
ders  of  their  Chief,  that  war  should  be  made  upon 
the  crows  to  extermination;  that  their  nests  were  to 
be  destroyed  and  all  eggs  broken.  The  war  of  ex 
termination  was  to  continue  until  not  a  crow  re 
mained,  except  the  youngest  found  was  to  be  brought 
to  him  alive. 

For  a  week  the  war  on  the  crows  continued. 
Thousands  of  dead  crows  were  brought  in  daily,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  week  not  a  bird  of  that  species 
could  be  seen  in  the  neighborhood.  Those  that  es 
caped  the  deadly  arrow  of  the  warriors,  flew  away, 
never  to  return  to  those  parts  again. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  made  upon  the  crows,  there 
was  brought  to  the  Chief's  tepee  the  youngest  found. 
'^Indeed,  so  young  was  the  bird  that  it  was  only  the 
great  medicine  of  the  Chief  that  kept  him  alive  un 
til  he  could  hop  about  and  find  his  own  food.     The 
^  Chief  spent  most  of  his  time  in  his  lodge  teaching 
the  young  crow  to  understand  and  talk  the  language 
of  the  tribe.     After  the  crow  had  mastered  this,  the 

—136— 


MYTHS      /.      OF/.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

Chief  then  taught  him  the  languages  of  the  neighbor 
ing  tribes.  When  the  crow  had  mastered  these  dif 
ferent  languages  the  chief  would  send  him  on  long 
journeys  to  ascertain  the  location  of  the  camps  of  the 
different  enemies. 

When  the  crow  would  find  a  large  Indian  camp 
he  would  alight  and  hop  about,  pretending  to  be 
picking  up  scraps,  but  really  keeping  his  ears  open  for 
anything  he  might  hear.  He  would  hang  around  all 
day,  and  at  night  when  they  would  all  gather  in  the 
large  council  tent  (which  always  stood  in  the  center 
of  the  village)  to  determine  upon  their  next  raid, 
and  plan  for  a  horse  stealing  trip,  Mr.  Crow  was  al 
ways  nearby  to  hear  all  their  plans  discussed.  He 
would  then  fly  away  to  his  master  (the  Chief)  and 
tell  him  all  that  he  had  learned. 

The  Chief  would  then  send  a  band  of  his  war 
riors  to  lie  in  ambush  for  the  raiding  party,  and,  as 
the  enemy  would  not  suspect  anything  they  would 
go  blindly  into  the  pitfall  of  death  thus  set  for  them. 
Thus  the  crow  was  the  scout  of  this  chief,  whose 
reputation  as  a  Wakan  (Holy  man)  soon  reached  all 
of  the  different  tribes.  The  Chief's  warriors  would 
intercept,  ambush  and  annihilate  every  war  party 
headed  for  his  camp. 

So,  finally  learning  that  they  could  not  make  war 
on  this  chief's  people  unbeknown  to  them,  they  gave 
up  making  war  on  this  particular  band.  When  meat 
was  running  low  in  the  camp  this  chief  would  send 
the  crow  out  to  look  for  buffalo.  When  he  discovered 

—137— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

a  herd  he  would  return  and  report  to  his  master; 
then  the  chief  would  order  out  the  hunters  and  they 
would  return  laden  with  meat.  Thus  the  crow  kept 
the  camp  all  the  time  informed  of  everything  that 
would  be  of  benefit  to  them. 

One  day  the  crow  disappeared,  over  which  there 
was  great  grief  among  the  tribe.  A  week  had  passed 
away,  when  Mr.  Crow  reappeared.  There  was  great 


'FATHER,  I  HAVE  COME  TO  TELL  YOU  THAT  YOU 
HAVE  ONLY  A  FEW  DAYS  MORE  TO  LIVE" 


rejoicing  upon  his  return,  but  the  crow  was  down 
cast  and  would  not  speak,  but  sat  with  a  drooping 
head  perched  at  the  top  of  the  chief's  tepee,  and  re 
fused  all  food  that  was  offered  to  him. 

In  vain  did  the  chief  try  to  get  the  crow  to  tell 
him  the  cause  of  his  silence  and  seeming  grief.  The 
crow  would  not  speak  until  the  chief  said:  "Well,  I 
will  take  a  few  of  my  warriors  and  go  out  and  try 

—138— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

to  ascertain  what  has  happened  to  cause  you  to  act 
as  you  do." 

Upon  hearing  this,  the  crow  said:  "Don't  go.  I 
dreaded  to  tell  you  what  I  know  to  be  a  fact,  as  I 
have  heard  it  from  some  great  medicine  men.  I  was 
traveling  over  the  mountains  west  of  here,  when  I 
spied  three  old  men  sitting  at  the  top  of  the  highest 
peak.  I  very  cautiously  dropped  down  behind  a  rock 
and  listened  to  their  talk.  I  heard  your  name  men 
tioned  by  one  of  them,  then  your  brother's  name  was 
mentioned.  Then  the  third,  who  was  the  oldest,  said : 
'In  three  days  from  today  the  lightning  will  kill  those 
two  brothers  whom  all  the  nations  fear.' ' 

Upon  hearing  what  the  crow  stated  the  tribe 
came  grief  stricken.  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day 
the  chief  ordered  a  nice  tepee  placed  upon  the  high 
est  point,  far  enough  away  from  the  village,  so  that 
the  peals  of  thunder  would  not  alarm  the  babies  of 
the  camp. 

A  great  feast  was  given,  and  after  the  feasting 
was  over  there  came  in  six  young  maidens  leading 
the  war  horses  of  the  two  brothers.  The  horses  were 
painted  and  decorated  as  if  for  a  charge  on  the  enemy. 
One  maiden  walked  ahead  of  the  chief's  horse  bear 
ing  in  her  hands  the  bow  and  arrows  of  the  great 
warrior.  Next  came  two  maidens,  one  on  either  side 
of  the  prancing  war  steed,  each  holding  a  rein.  Be 
hind  the  chief's  horse  came  the  fourth  maiden.  Like 
the  first,  she  bore  in  her  hands  the  bow  and  arrows 
of  the  chief's  brother.  Then  the  fifth  and  sixth  maid- 

—139— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

ens  each  holding  a  rein,  walked  on  either  side  of  the 
prancing  horse  of  the  chief's  brother.  They  ad 
vanced  and  ^circled  the  large  gathering  and  finally 
stopped  directly  in  front  of  the  two  brothers,  who  im 
mediately  arose  and  taking  their  bows  and  arrows 
vaulted  lightly  upon  their  war  steeds,  and  singing 
their  death  song,  galloped  off  amid  a  great  cry  of 
grief  from  the  people  who  loved  them  most  dearly. 

Heading  straight  for  the  tepee  that  had  been  placed 
upon  the  highest  point,  adjacent  to  the  village,  they 
soon  arrived  at  their  destination  and,  dismounting 
from  their  horses,  turned,  waved  their  hands  to  their 
band,  and  disappeared  within  the  tepee.  Scarcely 
had  they  entered  the  lodge  when  the  rumblings  of 
distant  thunder  could  be  heard.  Nearer,  and  nearer, 
came  the  sound,  until  at  last  the  storm  overspread  the 
locality  in  all  its  fury.  Flash  upon  flash  of  lightning 
burst  forth  from  the  heavens.  Deafening  peals  of 
thunder  followed  each  flash.  Finally,  one  flash  bright 
er  than  any  of  the  others,  one  peal  more  deafening 
than  those  preceding  it,  and  the  storm  had  passed. 

Sadly  the  warriors  gathered  together,  mounted 
their  horses  and  slowly  rode  to  the  tepee  on  the  high 
point.  Arriving  there  they  looked  inside  the  lodge  and 
saw  the  two  brothers  lying  cold  and  still  in  death, 
each  holding  the  lariat  of  his  favorite  war  horse. 
The  horses  also  lay  dead  side  by  side  in  front  of  the 
tent.  (From  this  came  the  custom  of  killing  the  fa 
vorite  horse  of  a  dead  warrior  at  the  burial  of  the 
owner) . 

—140— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

As  the  Indians  sadly  left  the  hill  to  return  home, 
they  heard  a  noise  at  the  top  of  the  tepee,  and  look 
ing  up  they  saw  the  crow  sitting  on  one  of  the 
splintered  tepee  poles.  He  was  crying  most  pitifully, 
and  as  they  rode  off  he  flew  up  high  in  the  air  and 
his  pitiful  "caw"  became  fainter  and  fainter  till  at 
last  they  heard  it  no  more.  And  from  that  day,  the 
story  goes,  no  crow  ever  goes  near  the  village  of  that 
band  of  Indians. 


—141— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

THE  "WASNA"  (PEMMICAN)  MAN  AND  THE 
UNKTOMI  (SPIDER) 


Once  upon  a  time  there  appeared  from  out  of  a  large 
belt  of  timber  a  man  attired  in  the  fat  of  the  buffalo. 
On  his  head  he  wore  the  honeycomb  part  of  the 
stomach.  To  this  was  attached  small  pieces  of  fat. 
The  fat  which  covered  the  stomach  he  wore  as  a 
cloak.  The  large  intestines  he  wore  as  leggings,  and 
the  kidney  fat  as  his  moccasins. 

As  he  appeared  he  had  the  misfortune  to  meet 
"Unktomi"  (spider)  with  his  hundreds  of  starving 
children.  Upon  seeing  the  fat,  Unktomi  and  his  large 
family  at  once  attacked  the  man,  who,  in  order  to 
save  his  life,  started  to  run  away,  but  so  closely  did 
Unktomi  and  his  family  pursue  him  that  in  order  to 
make  better  time  and  also  get  a  little  better  start,  he 
threw  off  his  head  covering,  which  the  Unktomi  fam 
ily  hastily  devoured,  and  were  again  closing  in  upon 
him.  He  then  threw  off  his  cloak  and  they  devoured 
that,  and  were  close  upon  him  again,  when  he  threw 
off  his  leggings.  These  were  hastily  eaten  up,  and 
as  they  drew  near  to  a  lake,  the  man  threw  off  the 
kidney  fat,  and,  running  to  the  edge  of  the  lake,  dived 
down  into  the  water  and  kept  beneath  the  surface, 
swimming  to  the  opposite  shore.  After  the  Unktomi 
family  had  eaten  the  kidney  fat  they  came  to  the 
water's  edge,  and  the  grease  was  floating  on  the 
surface  of  the  water  which  they  lapped  up,  until 
—142— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

there  was  not  a  grease  spot  left  floating  on  the  sur 
face. 

The  small  morsels  had  only  sharpened  their  ap 
petites,  and  as  they  saw  the  man  sitting  on  the  op 
posite  shore,  Unktomi  and  his  family  proceeded 
around  the  lake  and  came  upon  two  men  sitting  on 
the  shore.  Unktomi  saw  that  the  other  man  was 
"Wakapapi"  (pounded  beef).  The  family  surrounded 
the  two  and  Unktomi  ordered  them  to  fight.  Fear 
ing  Unktomi  and  his  large  family,  they  at  once  com 
menced  to  fight  and  Pounded  Meat  was  soon  killed. 
The  hungry  family  at  once  fell  to  eating  him.  So 
busy  were  they  that  none  noticed  the  fat  man  sneak 
off  and  disappear. 

When  they  had  finished  the  pounded  beef  man  they 
looked  around  to  fall  upon  the  fat  man,  but  nowhere 
could  he  be  seen.  Unktomi  said,  "I  will  track  him 
and  when  I  find  him,  I  will  return  for  you,  so  stay 
here  and  await  my  return." 

He  followed  the  fat  man's  tracks  until  farther 
east  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  he  found  the  fat  man 
in  the  act  of  skinning  a  deer,  which  he  had  killed. 
(He  had  held  on  to  his  bow  and  arrows  when  he 
jumped  into  the  lake).  "My,"  said  Unktomi,  "this 
will  make  a  fine  meal  for  my  hungry  children.  I  will 
go  after  them,  so  hurry  and  cut  the  meat  up  into 
small  pieces  so  they  each  can  have  a  piece." 

"All  right,  go  ahead  and  get  your  family,"  said 
Fat  Man.  During  Unktomi's  absence,  the  fat  man  hur 
riedly  cut  the  meat  up  into  small  pieces  and  carried 

—143— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

them  up  into  a  tree  that  stood  near  to  the  shore. 
When  he  had  carried  it  all  up  he  threw  sand  and 
dirt  upon  the  blood,  and  so  left  no  trace  of  the  deer. 

On  the  arrival  of  Unktomi  and  his  family,  no  signs 
of  the  fat  man  or  the  deer  could  be  found.  They 
wandered  about  the  spot  looking  for  tracks  which 
might  lead  them  to  where  the  fat  man  had  cached 
the  meat,  as  Unktomi  said  he  could  not  have  carried 
it  very  far.  Now  the  fat  man  was  up  in  the  tree 
and  sat  watching  them.  The  reflection  of  the  tree 
was  in  the  water,  and  some  of  the  children  going 
close  to  the  shore,  discovered  it  as  they  looked  at  the 
reflection.  The  fat  man  cut  a  piece  of  meat  and  ex 
tending  it  towards  them,  drew  back  his  hand  and  put 
the  meat  into  his  mouth. 

"Come  quick,  father,  here  he  is  eating  the  meat," 
said  the  children.  Unktomi  came  and  seeing  the  re 
flection,  thought  the  fat  man  was  down  in  the  lake. 
"Wait,  I  will  bring  him  up  for  you."  So  saying,  he 
dived  down,  but  soon  arose  without  anything.  Again 
and  again  he  tried,  but  could  not  reach  the  bottom. 
He  told  the  children  to  gather  rock  for  him.  These 
he  tied  around  his  neck  and  body,  and  dived  down 
for  the  last  time.  The  last  the  children  saw  of  their 
father  was  the  bubbles  which  arose  to  the  surface  of 
the  lake.  The  rocks  being  too  heavy  for  him,  held 
him  fast  to  the  bottom,  and  some  hungry  fish  soon 
y  made  a  feast  out  of  the  body  of  poor  "Unktomi." 


—144 — 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

THE  RESUSCITATION  OF  THE  ONLY 
DAUGHTER 


There  once  lived  an  old  couple  who  had  an  only 
daughter.  She  was  a  beautiful  girl,  and  was  very 
much  courted  by  the  young  men  of  the  tribe,  but 
she  said  that  she  preferred  single  life,  and  to  all  their 
heart-touching  tales  of  deep  affection  for  her  she  al 
ways  had  one  answer.  That  was  "No." 

One  day  this  maiden  fell  ill  and  day  after  day 
grew  worse.  All  the  best  medicine  men  were  called 
in,  but  their  medicines  were  of  no  avail,  and  in  two 
weeks  from  the  day  that  she  was  taken  ill  she  lay 
a  corpse.  Of  course  there  was  great  mourning  in 
the  camp.  They  took  her  body  several  miles  from 
camp  and  rolled  it  in  fine  robes  and  blankets,  then 
they  laid  her  on  a  scaffold  which  they  had  erected. 
(This  was  the  custom  of  burial  among  the  Indians). 
They  placed  four  forked  posts  into  the  ground  and 
then  lashed  strong  poles  lengthwise  and  across  the 
ends  and  made  a  bed  of  willows  and  stout  ash  brush. 
This  scaffold  was  from  five  to  seven  feet  from  the 
ground.  After  the  funeral  the  parents  gave  away 
all  of  their  horses,  fine  robes  and  blankets  and  all 
of  the  belongings  of  the  dead  girl.  Then  they  cut 
their  hair  off  close  to  their  heads,  and  attired  them 
selves  in  the  poorest  apparel  they  could  secure. 

When  a  year  had  passed  the  friends  and  relatives 
of  the  old  couple  tried  in  vain  to  have  them  set  aside 
their  mourning.  "You  have  mourned  long  enough," 

—145— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

they  would  say.  "Put  aside  your  mourning  and  try 
and  enjoy  a  few  more  pleasures  of  this  life  while 
you  live.  You  are  both  growing  old  and  can't  live 
very  many  more  years,  so  make  the  best  of  your 
time."  The  old  couple  would  listen  to  their  advice  and 
then  shake  their  heads  and  answer :  "We  have  noth 
ing  to  live  for.  Nothing  we  could  join  in  would  be 
any  amusement  to  us,  since  we  have  lost  the  light 
of  our  lives." 

So  the  old  couple  continued  their  mourning  for 
their  lost  idol.  Two  years  had  passed  since  the  death 
of  the  beautiful  girl,  when  one  evening  a  hunter  and 
his  wife  passed  by  the  scaffold  which  held  the  dead 
girl.  They  were  on  their  return  trip  and  were  heav 
ily  loaded  down  with  game,  and  therefore  could  not 
travel  very  fast.  About  half  a  mile  from  the  scaf 
fold  a  clear  spring  burst  forth  from  the  side  of  a 
bank,  and  from  this  trickled  a  small  stream  of  water, 
moistening  the  roots  of  the  vegetation  bordering  its 
banks,  and  causing  a  growth  of  sweet  green  grass. 
At  this  spring  the  hunter  camped  and  tethering  his 
horses,  at  once  set  about  helping  his  wife  to  erect 
the  small  tepee  which  they  carried  for  convenience 
in  traveling. 

When  it  became  quite  dark,  the  hunter's  dogs  set 
up  a  great  barking  and  growling.  "Look  out  and  see 
what  the  dogs  are  barking  at,"  said  the  hunter  to 
his  wife.  She  looked  out  through  the  door  and  then 
drew  back  saying:  "There  is  the  figure  of  a  woman 
advancing  from  the  direction  of  the  girl's  scaffold." 

—146— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"I  expect  it  is  the  dead  girl;  let  her  come,  and  don't 
act  as  if  you  were  afraid,"  said  the  hunter.  Soon 
they  heard  footsteps  advancing  and  the  steps  ceased 
at  the  door.  Looking  down  at  the  lower  part  of  the 
door  the  hunter  noticed  a  pair  of  small  moccasins, 
and  knowing  that  it  was  the  visitor,  said:  "Whoever 
you  are,  come  in  and  have  something  to  eat." 

At  this  invitation  the  figure  came  slowly  in  and 
sat  down  by  the  door  with  head  covered  and  with  a 
fine  robe  drawn  tightly  over  the  face.  The  woman 
dished  up  a  fine  supper  and  placing  it  before  the 
visitor,  said:  "Eat,  my  friend,  you  must  be  hungry." 
The  figure  never  moved,  nor  would  it  uncover  to  eat. 
"Let  us  turn  our  back  towards  the  door  and  our 
visitor  may  eat  the  food,"  said  the  hunter.  So  his 
wife  turned  her  back  towards  the  visitor  and  made 
herself  very  busy  cleaning  the  small  pieces  of  meat 
that  were  hanging  to  the  back  sinews  of  the  deer 
which  had  been  killed.  (This  the  Indians  use  as 
thread.)  The  hunter,  filling  his  pipe,  turned  away 
and  smoked  in  silence.  Finally  the  dish  was  pushed 
back  to  the  woman,  who  took  it  and  after  washing 
it,  put  it  away.  The  figure  still  sat  at  the  door,  not 
a  sound  coming  from  it,  neither  was  it  breathing. 
The  hunter  at  last  said:  "Are  you  the  girl  that  was 
placed  upon  that  scaffold  two  years  ago?"  It  bowed 
its  head  two  or  three  times  in  assent.  "Are  you  going 
to  sleep  here  tonight;  if  you  are,  my  wife  will  make 
down  a  bed  for  you."  The  figure  shook  its  head. 

—147— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"Are  you  going  to  come  again  tomorrow  night  to  us  ?" 
It  nodded  assent. 

For  three  nights  in  succession  the  figure  visited 
the  hunter's  camp.  The  third  night  the  hunter  no 
ticed  that  the  figure  was  breathing.  He  saw  one  of 
the  hands  protruding  from  the  robe.  The  skin  was 
perfectly  black  and  was  stuck  fast  to  the  bones  of 
the  hand.  On  seeing  this  the  hunter  arose  and  going 
over  to  his  medicine  sack  which  hung  on  a  pole,  took 
down  the  sack  and,  opening  it,  took  out  some  roots 
and  mixing  them  with  skunk  oil  and  vermillion,  said 
to  the  figure: 

"If  you  will  let  us  rub  your  face  and  hands  with 
this  medicine  it  W7ill  put  new  life  into  the  skin  and 
you  will  assume  your  complexion  again  and  it  will 
put  flesh  on  you."  The  figure  assented  and  the  hun 
ter  rubbed  the  medicine  on  her  hands  and  face.  Then 
she  arose  and  walked  back  to  the  scaffold.  The  next 
day  the  hunter  moved  camp  towards  the  home  vil 
lage.  That  night  he  camped  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  village.  When  night  came,  the  dogs,  as  usual, 
set  up  a  great  barking,  and  looking  out,  the  wife  saw 
the  girl  approaching. 

When  the  girl  had  entered  and  sat  down,  the 
hunter  noticed  that  the  girl  did  not  keep  her  robe 
so  closely  together  over  her  face.  When  the  wife 
gave  her  something  to  eat,  the  girl  reached  out  and 
took  the  dish,  thus  exposing  her  hands,  which  they 
at  once  noticed  were  again  natural.  After  she  had 
finished  her  meal,  the  hunter  said :  "Did  my  medicine 

—148— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

help  you?"  She  nodded  assent.  "Do  you  want  my 
medicine  rubbed  all  over  your  body?"  Again  she 
nodded.  "I  will  mix  enough  to  rub  your  entire  body, 
and  I  will  go  outside  and  let  my  wife  rub  it  on  for 
you."  He  mixed  a  good  supply  and  going  out  left 
his  wife  to  rub  the  girl.  When  his  wife  had  com 
pleted  the  task  she  called  to  her  husband  to  come 
in,  and  when  he  came  in  he  sat  down  and  said  to  the 
girl:  "Tomorrow  we  will  reach  the  village.  Do  you 
want  to  go  with  us?"  She  shook  her  head.  "Will 
you  come  again  to  our  camp  tomorrow  night  after 
we  have  camped  in  the  village?"  She  nodded  her 
head  in  assent.  "Then  do  you  want  to  see  your  par 
ents?"  She  nodded  again,  and  arose  and  disappeared 
into  the  darkness. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  hunter  broke  camp  and 
traveled  far  into  the  afternoon,  when  he  arrived  at 
the  village.  He  instructed  his  wife  to  go  at  once 
and  inform  the  old  couple  of  what  had  happened.  The 
wife  did  so  and  at  sunset  the  old  couple  came  to  the 
hunter's  tepee.  They  were  invited  to  enter  and  a 
fine  supper  was  served  them.  Soon  after  they  had 
finished  their  supper  the  dogs  of  the  camp  set  up  a 
great  barking.  "Now  she  is  coming,  so  be  brave  and 
you  will  soon  see  your  lost  daughter,"  said  the  hunter. 
Hardly  had  he  finished  speaking  when  she  entered 
the  tent  as  natural  as  ever  she  was  in  life.  Her  par 
ents  clung  to  her  and  smothered  her  with  kisses. 

They  wanted  her  to  return  home  with  them,  but 
she  would  stay  with  the  hunter  who  had  brought  her 

—149— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

/ 
back  to  life,  and  she  married  him,  becoming  his  second 

wife.  A  short  time  after  taking  the  girl  for  his  wife, 
the  hunter  joined  a  war  party  and  never  returned, 
as  he  was  killed  on  the  battlefield. 

A  year  after  her  husband's  death  she  married 
again.  This  husband  was  also  killed  by  a  band  of 
enemies  whom  the  warriors  were  pursuing  for  steal 
ing  some  of  their  horses.  The  third  husband  also 
met  a  similar  fate  to  the  first.  He  was  killed  on  the 
field  of  battle. 

She  was  still  a  handsome  woman  at  the  time  of 
the  third  husband's  death,  but  never  again  married, 
as  the  men  feared  her,  saying  she  was  holy,  and  that 
any  one  who  married  her  would  be  sure  to  be  killed 
by  the  enemy. 

So  she  took  to  doctoring  the  sick  and  gained  the 
reputation  of  being  the  most  skilled  doctor  in  the  na 
tion.  She  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age  and  when  she  felt 
death  approaching  she  had  them  take  her  to  where 
she  had  rested  once  before,  and  crawling  to  the  top 
of  the  newly  erected  scaffold,  wrapped  her  blankets 
and  robes  about  her,  covered  her  face  carefully,  and 
fell  into  that  sleep  from  which  there  is  no  more 
awakening. 


—150— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PET  CRANE 


There  was  once  upon  a  time  a  man  who  did  not 
care  to  live  with  his  tribe  in  a  crowded  village,  but 
preferred  a  secluded  spot  in  the  deep  forest,  there 
to  live  with  his  wife  and  family  of  five  children.  The 
oldest  of  the  children  (a  boy)  was  twelve  years  of 
age,  and  being  the  son  of  a  distinguished  hunter,  soon 
took  to  roaming  through  the  forest  in  search  of  small 
game. 

One  day  during  his  ramblings,  he  discovered  a 
crane's  nest,  with  only  one  young  crane  occupying 
it.  No  doubt  some  fox  or  traveling  weasel  had  eaten 
the  rest  of  the  crane's  brothers  and  sisters.  The  boy 
said  to  himself,  "I  will  take  this  poor  little  crane 
home  and  will  raise  him  as  a  pet  for  our  baby.  If 
I  leave  him  here  some  hungry  fox  will  be  sure  to 
eat  the  poor  little  fellow."  He  carried  the  young 
crane  home  and  it  grew  to  be  nearly  as  tall  as  the 
boy's  five-year-old  sister. 

Being  brought  up  in  a  human  circle,  it  soon  grew 
to  understand  all  the  family  said.  Although  it  could 
not  speak  it  took  part  in  all  the  games  played  by  the 
children.  The  father  of  the  family  was,  as  I  have 
before  mentioned,  a  great  hunter.  He  always  had  a 
plentiful  supply  of  deer,  antelope,  buffalo  and  beaver 
meats  on  hand,  but  there  came  a  change.  The  game 
migrated  to  some  other  locality,  where  no  deadly  shot 
like  "Kutesaii"  (Never  Miss)  would  be  around  to 
annihilate  their  fast  decreasing  droves.  The  hunter 

—151— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

started  out  early  one  morning  in  hopes  of  discovering 
some  of  the  game  which  had  disappeared  as  sudden 
ly  as  though  the  earth  had  swallowed  them.  The 
hunter  traveled  the  whole  day,  all  to  no  purpose.  It 
was  late  in  the  evening  when  he  staggered  into  camp. 
He  was  nearly  dead  with  fatigue.  Hastily  swallowing 
a  cup  of  cherry  bark  tea  (the  only  article  of  food  they 
had  in  store),  he  at  once  retired  and  was  soon  in  the 
sweet  land  of  dreams.  The  children  soon  joined  their 
father  and  the  poor  woman  sat  thinking  how  they 
could  save  their  dear  children  from  starvation.  Sud 
denly  out  upon  the  night  air  rang  the  cry  of  a  crane. 
Instantly  the  pet  crane  awoke,  stepped  outside  and 
answered  the  call.  The  crane  which  had  given  the 
cry  was  the  father  of  the  pet  crane,  and  learning 
from  Mr.  Fox  of  the  starving  condition  of  his  son 
and  his  friends,  he  flew  to  the  hunting  grounds  of  the 
tribe,  and  as  there  had  been  a  good  kill  that  day,  the 
crane  found  no  trouble  in  securing  a  great  quantity 
of  fat.  This  he  carried  to  the  tent  of  the  hunter  and, 
hovering  over  the  tent  he  suddenly  let  the  fat  drop 
to  the  earth  and  at  once  the  pet  crane  picked  it  up 
and  carried  it  to  the  woman. 

Wishing  to  surprise  the  family  on  their  awaken 
ing  in  the  morning  she  got  a  good  stick  for  a  light, 
heaped  up  sticks  on  the  dying  embers,  and  started 
up  a  rousing  fire  and  proceeded  to  melt  or  try  out 
the  fat,  as  melted  fat  is  considered  a  favorite  dish. 
Although  busily  occupied  she  kept  her  ears  open  for 
any  strange  noises  coming  out  of  the  forest,  there 

—152— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


being  usually  some  enemies  lurking  around.  She  held 
her  pan  in  such  a  position  that  after  the  fat  started 
to  melt  and  quite  a  lot  of  the  hot  grease  accumulated 
in  the  pan,  she  could  plainly  see  the  tent  door  re 
flected  in  the  hot  grease,  as  though  she  used  a  mirror. 
When  she  had  nearly  completed  her  task,  she 
heard  a  noise  as  though  some  footsteps  were  approach- 


m 


THE  PET  CRANE  THAT  SAVED  THE  FAMILY 

ing.  Instantly  her  heart  began  to  beat  a  tattoo  on  her 
ribs,  but  she  sat  perfectly  quiet,  calling  all  her  self- 
control  into  play  to  keep  from  making  an  outcry. 
This  smart  woman  had  already  studied  out  a  way  in 
which  to  best  this  enemy,  in  case  an  enemy  it  should 
be.  The  footsteps,  or  noise,  continued  to  advance, 

—153— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

until  at  last  the  woman  saw  reflected  in  the  pan  of 
grease  a  hand  slowly  protruding  through  the  tent 
door,  and  the  finger  pointed,  as  if  counting,  to  the 
sleeping  father,  then  to  each  one  of  the  sleeping 
children,  then  to  her  who  sat  at  the  fire.  Little  did 
Mr.  Enemy  suppose  that  the  brave  woman  who  sat 
so  composed  at  her  fire,  was  watching  every  motion 
he  was  making.  The  hand  slowly  withdrew,  and  as 
the  footsteps  slowly  died  away,  there  rang  out  on  the 
still  night  air  the  deep  fierce  howl  of  the  prairie  wolf. 
(This  imitation  of  a  prairie  wolf  is  the  signal  to  the 
war  party  than  an  enemy  has  been  discovered  by  the 
scout  whom  they  have  sent  out  in  advance).  At  once 
she  aroused  her  husband  and  children.  Annoyed  at 
being  so  unceremoniously  disturbed  from  his  deep 
sleep,  the  husband  crossly  asked  why  she  had  awak 
ened  him  so  roughly.  The  wife  explained  what  she 
had  seen  and  heard.  She  at  once  pinned  an  old 
blanket  around  the  crane's  shoulders  and  an  old  piece 
of  buffalo  hide  on  his  head  for  a  hat  or  head  cover 
ing.  Heaping  piles  of  wood  onto  the  fire  she  in 
structed  him  to  run  around  outside  of  the  hut  until 
the  family  returned,  as  they  were  going  to  see  if  they 
could  find  some  roots  to  mix  up  with  the  fat.  Hur 
riedly  she  tied  her  blanket  around  her  middle,  put 
her  baby  inside  of  it,  and  then  grabbed  her  three  year 
old  son  and  packed  him  on  her  back.  The  father 
also  hurriedly  packed  the  next  two  and  the  older 
boy  took  care  of  himself. 

Immediately  upon  leaving  the  tent  they  took  three 

—154— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

different  directions,  to  meet  again  on  the  high  hill 
west  of  their  home.  The  reflection  from  the  fire  in 
the  tent  disclosed  to  them  the  poor  pet  crane  run 
ning  around  the  tent.  It  looked  exactly  like  a  child 
with  its  blanket  and  hat  on. 

Suddenly  there  rang  out  a  score  of  shots  and  war 
whoops  of  the  dreaded  Crow  Indians.  Finding  the 
tent  deserted  they  disgustedly  filed  off  and  were  swal 
lowed  up  in  the  darkness  of  the  deep  forest. 

The  next  morning  the  family  returned  to  see  what 
had  become  of  their  pet  crane.  There,  riddled  to 
pieces,  lay  the  poor  bird  who  had  given  up  his  life  to 
save  his  dear  friends. 


-155— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 


WHITE  PLUME 


There  once  lived  a  young  couple  who  were  very 
happy.  The  young  man  was  noted  throughout  the 
whole  nation  for  his  accuracy  with  the  bow  and  ar 
row,  and  was  given  the  title  of  "Dead  Shot,"  or  "He 
who  never  misses  his  mark,"  and  the  young  woman, 
noted  for  her  beauty,  was  named  Beautiful  Dove. 

One  day  a  stork  paid  this  happy  couple  a  visit 
and  left  them  a  fine  big  boy.  The  boy  cried  "Ina, 
ina"  (mother,  mother).  "Listen  to  our  son,"  said 
the  mother,  "he  can  speak,  and  hasn't  he  a  sweet 
voice?"  "Yes,"  said  the  father,  "it  will  not  be  long 
before  he  will  be  able  to  walk."  He  set  to  work  mak 
ing  some  arrows,  and  a  fine  hickory  bow  for  his  son. 
One  of  the  arrows  he  painted  red,  one  blue,  and  an 
other  yellow.  The  rest  he  left  the  natural  color  of 
the  wood.  When  he  had  completed  them,  the  mother 
placed  them  in  a  fine  quiver,  all  worked  in  porcupine 
quills,  and  hung  them  up  over  where  the  boy  slept 
in  his  fine  hammock  of  painted  moose  hide. 

At  times  when  the  mother  would  be  nursing  her 
son,  she  would  look  up  at  the  bow  and  arrows  and 
talk  to  her  baby,  saying:  "My  son,  hurry  up  and 
grow  fast  so  you  can  use  your  bow  and  arrows.  You 
will  grow  up  to  be  as  fine  a  marksman  as  your  father." 
The  baby  would  coo  and  stretch  his  little  arms  up 
towards  the  bright  colored  quiver  as  though  he  un 
derstood  every  word  his  mother  had  uttered.  Time 
passed  and  the  boy  grew  up  to  a  good  size,  when 

—156 — 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

one  day  his  father  said:  "Wife,  give  our  son  the 
bow  and  arrows  so  that  he  may  learn  how  to  use 
them."  The  father  taught  his  son  how  to  string 
and  unstring  the  bow,  and  also  how  to  attach  the  ar 
row  to  the  string.  The  red,  blue  and  yellow  arrows, 
he  told  the  boy,  were  to  be  used  only  whenever  there 
was  any  extra  good  shooting  to  be  done,  so  the  boy 
never  used  these  three  until  he  became  a  master  of 
the  art.  Then  he  would  practice  on  eagles  and  hawks, 
and  never  an  eagle  or  hawk  continued  his  flight  when 
the  boy  shot  one  of  the  arrows  after  him. 

One  day  the  boy  came  running  into  the  tent,  ex 
claiming:  "Mother,  mother,  I  have  shot  and  killed 
the  most  beautiful  bird  I  ever  saw."  "Bring  it  in, 
my  son,  and  let  me  look  at  it."  He  brought  the  bird 
and  upon  examining  it  she  pronounced  it  a  different 
type  of  bird  from  any  she  had  ever  seen.  Its  feath 
ers  were  of  variegated  colors  and  on  its  head  was 
a  topknot  of  pure  white  feathers.  The  father,  re 
turning,  asked  the  boy  with  which  arrow  he  had 
killed  the  bird.  "With  the  red  one,"  answered  the 
boy.  "I  was  so  anxious  to  secure  the  pretty  bird 
that,  although  I  know  I  could  have  killed  it  with 
one  of  my  common  arrows,  I  wanted  to  be  certain, 
so  I  used  the  red  one."  "That  is  right,  my  son,"  said 
the  father.  "When  you  have  the  least  doubt  of  your 
aim,  always  use  one  of  the  painted  arrows,  and  you 
will  never  miss  your  mark." 

The  parents  decided  to  give  a  big  feast  in  honor 
of  their  son  killing  the  strange,  beautiful  bird.  So 

—157— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

a  great  many  elderly  women  were  called  to  the  tent 
of  Pretty  Dove  to  assist  her  in  making  ready  for  the 
big  feast.  For  ten  days  these  women  cooked  and 
pounded  beef  and  cherries,  and  got  ready  the  choicest 
dishes  known  to  the  Indians.  Of  buffalo,  beaver, 
deer,  antelope,  moose,  bear,  quail,  grouse,  duck  of 
all  kinds,  geese  and  plover  meats  there  was  an  abun 
dance.  Fish  of  all  kinds,  and  every  kind  of  wild 
fruit  were  cooked,  and  when  all  was  in  readiness, 
the  heralds  went  through  the  different  villages,  crying 
out:  "Ho-po,  ho-po"  (now  all,  now  all),  Dead  Shot 
and  his  wife,  Beautiful  Dove,  invite  all  of  you,  young 
and  old,  to  their  tepee  to  partake  of  a  great  feast, 
given  by  them  in  honor  of  a  great  bird  which  their 
son  has  killed,  and  also  to  select  for  their  son  some 
good  name  which  he  will  bear  through  life.  So  all 
bring  your  cups  and  wooden  dishes  along  with  your 
horn  spoons,  as  there  will  be  plenty  to  eat.  Come, 
all  you  council  men  and  chiefs,  as  they  have  also  a 
great  tent  erected  for  you  in  which  you  hold  your 
council." 

Thus  crying,  the  heralds  made  the  circle  of  the 
village.  The  guests  soon,  arrived.  In  front  of  the 
tent  was  a  pole  stuck  in  the  ground  and  painted  red, 
and  at  the  top  of  the  pole  was  fastened  the  bird  of 
variegated  colors ;  its  wings  stretched  out  to  their  full 
length  and  the  beautiful  white  waving  so  beauti 
fully  from  its  topknot,  it  was  the  center  of  attraction. 
Half  way  up  the  pole  was  tied  the  bow  and  arrow  of 
the  young  marksman.  Long  streamers  of  fine  bead 

—158— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

and  porcupine  work  waved  from  the  pole  and  pre 
sented  a  very  striking  appearance.  The  bird  was 
faced  towards  the  setting  sun,  The  great  chief  and 
medicine  men  pronounced  the  bird  "Wakan"  (some 
thing  holy). 

When  the  people  had  finished  eating  they  all  fell 
in  line  and  marched  in  single  file  beneath  the  bird,  in 
order  to  get  a  close  view  of  it.  By  the  time  this  vast 
crowd  had  fully  viewed  the  wonderful  bird,  the  sun 
was  just  setting  clear  in  the  west,  when  directly  over 
the  rays  of  the  sun  appeared  a  cloud  in  the  shape  of 
a  bird  of  variegated  colors.  The  councilmen  were 
called  out  to  look  at  the  cloud,  and  the  head  medicine 
man  said  that  it  was  a  sign  that  the  boy  would  grow 
up  to  be  a  great  chief  and  hunter,  and  would  have 
a  great  many  friends  and  followers. 

This  ended  the  feast,  but  before  dispersing,  the 
chief  and  councilmen,  bestowed  upon  the  boy  the  title 
of  White  Plume. 

One  day  a  stranger  came  to  the  village,  who  was 
very  thin  and  nearly  starved.  So  weak  was  he  that 
he  could  not  speak,  but  made  signs  for  something 
to  eat.  Luckily  the  stranger  came  to  Dead  Shot's 
tent,  and  as  there  was  always  a  plentiful  supply  in  his 
lodge,  the  stranger  soon  had  a  good  meal  served  him. 
After  he  had  eaten  and  rested  he  told  his  story. 

"I  came  from  a  very  great  distance,"  said  he. 
"The  nations  where  I  came  from  are  in  a  starving 
condition.  No  place  can,  they  find  any  buffalo,  deer 
nor  antelope.  A  witch  or  evil  spirit  in  the  shape  of 

—159— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

a  white  buffalo  has  driven  all  the  large  game  out  of 
the  country.  Every  day  this  white  buffalo  comes 
circling  the  village,  and  any  one  caught  outside  of 
their  tent  is  carried  away  on  its  horns.  In  vain  have 
the  best  marksmen  of  the  tribe  tried  to  shoot  it.  Their 
arrows  fly  wide  off  the  mark,  and  they  have  given  up 
trying  to  kill  it  as  it  bears  a  charmed  life.  Another 
evil  spirit  in  the  form  of  a  red  eagle  has  driven  all 
the  birds  of  the  air  out  of  our  country.  Every  day 
this  eagle  circles  above  the  village,  and  so  powerful 
is  it  that  anyone  being  caught  outside  of  his  tent  is 
descended  upon  and  his  skull  split  open  to  the  brain 
by  the  sharp  breastbone  of  the  Eagle.  Many  a  marks 
man  has  tried  his  skill  on  this  bird,  all  to  no  purpose. 

"Another  evil  spirit  in  the  form  of  a  white  rab 
bit  has  driven  out  all  the  animals  which  inhabit  the 
ground,  and  destroyed  the  fields  of  corn  and  tur 
nips,  so  the  nation  is  starving,  as  the  arrows  of  the 
marksmen  have  also  failed  to  touch  the  white  rab 
bit.  Any  one  who  can  kill  these  three  witches  will 
receive  as  his  reward,  the  choice  of  two  of  the  most 
beautiful  maidens  of  our  nation.  The  younger  one 
is  the  handsomer  of  the  two  and  has  also  the  sweet 
est  disposition.  Many  young,  and  even  old  men,  hear 
ing  of  this  (our  chief's)  offer,  have  traveled  many 
miles  to  try  their  arrows  on  the  witches,  but  all  to 
no  purpose.  Our  chief,  hearing  of  your  great  marks 
manship,  sent  me  to  try  and  secure  your  services  to 
have  you  come  and  x  rid  us  of  these  three  witches." 

Thus  spoke  the  stranger  to  the  hunter.    The  hunt- 

—160— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

er  gazed  long  and  thoughtfully  into  the  dying  embers 
of  the  camp  fire.  Then  slowly  his  eyes  raised  and 
looked  lovingly  on  his  wife  who  sat  opposite  to  him. 
Gazing  on  her  beautiful  features  for  a  full  minute, 
he  slowly  dropped  his  gaze  back  to  the  dying  ern- 
bers  and  thus  answered  his  visitor: 

"My  friend,  I  feel  very  much  honored  by  your 
chief  having  sent  such  a  great  distance  for  me,  and 
also  for  the  kind  offer  of  his  lovely  daughter  in  mar 
riage,  if  I  should  succeed,  but  I  must  reject  the  great 
offer,  as  I  can  spare  none  of  my  affections  to  any 
other  woman  than  to  my  queen  whom  you  see  sit 
ting  there." 

White  Plume  had  been  listening  to  the  conversa 
tion  and  when  his  father  had  finished  speaking,  said: 
"Father,  I  am  a  child  no  more.  I  have  arrived  at 
manhood.  I  am  not  so  good  a  marksman  as  you, 
but  I  will  go  to  this  suffering  tribe  and  try  to  rid 
them  of  their  three  enemies.  If  this  man  will  rest 
for  a  few  days  and  return  to  his  village  and  inform 
them  of  my  coming,  I  will  travel  along  slowly  on 
his  trail  and  arrive  at  the  village  a  day  or  two  after 
he  reaches  there." 

"Very  well,  my  son,"  said  the  father,  "I  am  sure 
you  will  succeed,  as  you  fear  nothing,  and  as  to  your 
marksmanship,  it  is  far  superior  to  mine,  as  your 
sight  is  much  clearer  and  aim  quicker  than  mine." 

The  man  rested  a  few  days  and  one  morning  start 
ed  off,  after  having  instructed  White  Plume  as  to  the 
trail.  White  Plume  got  together  what  he  would  need 

—161— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

on  the  trip  and  was  ready  for  an  early  start  the  next 
morning.  That  night  Dead  Shot  and  his  wife  sat  up 
away  into  the  night  instructing  their  son  how  to 
travel  and  warning  him  as  to  the  different  kinds 
of  people  he  must  avoid  in  order  to  keep  out  of 
trouble.  "Above  all,"  said  the  father,  "keep  a  good 
look  out  for  Unktomi  (spider)  ;  he  is  the  most  tricky 
of  all,  and  will  get  you  into  trouble  if  you  associate 
with  him." 

White  Plume  left  early,  his  father  accompanying 
him  for  several  miles.  On  parting,  the  father's  last 
words  were:  "Look  out  for  Unktomi,  my  son,  he  is 
deceitful  and  treacherous."  "I'll  look  out  for  him, 
father;"  so  saying  he  disappeared  over  a  hill.  On 
the  way  he  tried  his  skill  on  several  hawks  and  eagles 
and  he  did  not  need  to  use  his  painted  arrows  to  kill 
them,  but  so  skillful  was  he  with  the  bow  and  arrows 
that  he  could  bring  down  anything  that  flew  with  his 
common  arrows.  He  was  drawing  near  to  the  end 
of  his  destination  when  he  had  a  large  tract  of  timber 
to  pass  through.  When  he  had  nearly  gotten  through 
the  timber  he  saw  an  old  man  sitting  on  a  log,  looking 
wistfully  up  into  a  big  tree,  where  sat  a  number  of 
prairie  chickens. 

"Hello,  grandfather,  why  are  you  sitting  there 
looking  so  downhearted?"  asked  WThite  Plume.  "I 
am  nearly  starved,  and  was  just  wishing  some  one 
would  shoot  one  of  those  chickens  for  me,  so  I  could 
make  a  good  meal  on  it,"  said  the  old  man.  "I  will 
shoot  one  for  you,"  said  the  young  man.  He  strung 

—162— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .*.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

his  bow,  placed  an  arrow  on  the  string,  simply  seemed 
to  raise  the  arrow  in  the  direction  of  the  chicken  (tak 
ing  no  aim).  Twang  went  out  the  bow,  zip  went  the 
arrow  and  a  chicken  fell  off  the  limb,  only  to  get 
caught  on  another  in  its  descent.  "There  is  your 
chicken,  grandfather."  "Oh,  my  grandson,  I  am  too 
weak  to  climb  up  and  get  it.  Can't  you  climb  up  and 
get  it  for  me?"  The  young  man,  pitying  the  old 
fellow,  proceeded  to  climb  the  tree,  when  the  old 
man  stopped  him,  saying:  "Grandson,  you  have  on 
such  fine  clothes,  it  is  a  pity  to  spoil  them;  you  had 
better  take  them  off  so  as  not  to  spoil  the  fine  por 
cupine  work  on  them."  The  young  man  took  off  his 
fine  clothes  and  climbed  up  into  the  tree,  and  securing 
the  chicken,  threw  it  down  to  the  old  man.  As  the 
young  man  was  scaling  down  the  tree,  the  old  man 
said:  "lyashkapa,  iyashkapa,"  (stick  fast,  stick  fast). 
Hearing  him  say  something,  he  asked,  "What  did  you 
say,  old  man?"  He  answered,  "I  was  only  talking  to 
myself."  The  young  man  proceeded  to  descend,  but 
he  could  not  move.  His  body  was  stuck  fast  to  the 
bark  of  the  tree.  In  vain  did  he  beg  the  old  man  to 
release  him.  The  old  Unktomi,  for  he  it  was,  only 
laughed  and  said:  "I  will  go  now  and  kill  the  evil 
spirits,  I  have  your  wonderful  bow  and  arrows  and 
I  cannot  miss  them.  I  will  marry  the  chief's  daugh 
ter,  and  you  can  stay  up  in  that  tree  and  die  there." 

So  saying,  he  put  on  White  Plume's  fine  clothes, 
took  his  bow  and  arrows  and  went  to  the  village.  As 
White  Plume  was  expected  at  any  minute,  the  whole 

—163— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

village  was  watching  for  him,  and  when  Unktomi 
came  into  sight  the  young  men  ran  to  him  with  a 
painted  robe,  sat  him  down  on  it  and  slowly  raising 
him  up  they  carried  him  to  the  tent  of  the  chief.  So 
certain  were  they  that  he  would  kill  the  evil  spirits 
that  the  chief  told  him  to  choose  one  of  the  daughters 
at  once  for  his  wife.  (Before  the  arrival  of  White 
Plume,  hearing  of  him  being  so  handsome,  the  two 
girls  had  quarreled  over  which  should  marry  him,  but 
upon  seeing  him  the  younger  was  not  anxious  to  be 
come  his  wife.)  So  Unktomi  chose  the  older  one  of 
the  sisters,  and  was  given  a  large  tent  in  which  to 
live.  The  younger  sister  went  to  her  mother's  tent 
to  live,  and  the  older  was  very  proud,  as  she  was 
married  to  the  man  who  would  save  the  nation  from 
starvation.  The  next  morning  there  was  a  great 
commotion  in  camp,  and  there  came  the  cry  that  the 
white  buffalo  was  coming.  "Get  ready,  son-in-law, 
and  kill  the  buffalo,"  said  the  chief. 

Unktomi  took  the  bow  and  arrows  and  shot  as  the 
buffalo  passed,  but  the  arrow  went  wide  off  its  mark. 
Next  came  the  eagle,  and  again  he  shot  and  missed. 
Then  came  the  rabbit,  and  again  he  missed. 

"Wait  until  tomorrow,  I  will  kill  them  all.  My 
blanket  caught  in  my  bow  and  spoiled  my  aim."  The 
people  were  very  much  disappointed,  and  the  chief, 
suspecting  that  all  was  not  right,  sent  for  the  young 
man  who  had  visited  Dead  Shot's  tepee.  When  the 
young  man  arrived,  the  chief  asked:  "Did  you  see 
White  Plume  when  you  went  to  Dead  Shot's  camp?" 

—164— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"Yes,  I  did,  and  ate  with  him  many  times.  I  stayed 
at  his  father's  tepee  all  the  time  I  was  there,"  said 
the  young  man.  "Would  you  recognize  him  if  you 
saw  him  again?"  asked  the  chief.  "Any  one  who 
had  but  one  glimpse  of  White  Plume  would  surely 
recognize  him  when  he  saw  him  again,  as  he  is  the 
most  handsome  man  I  ever  saw,"  said  the  young 
man. 

"Come  with  me  to  the  tent  of  my  son-in-law  and 
take  a  good  look  at  him,  but  don't  say  what  you  think 
until  we  come  away."  The  two  went  to  the  tent  of 
Unktomi,  and  when  the  young  man  saw  him  he  knew 
it  was  not  White  Plume,  although  it  was  White 
Plume's  bow  and  arrows  that  hung  at  the  head  of 
the  bed,  and  he  also  recognized  the  clothes  as  belong 
ing  to  White  Plume.  When  they  had  returned  to 
the  chief's  tent,  the  young  man  told  what  he  knew 
and  what  he  thought.  "I  think  this  is  some  Unktomi 
who  has  played  some  trick  on  White  Plume  and  has 
taken  his  bow  and  arrows  and  also  his  clothes,  and 
hearing  of  your  offer,  is  here  impersonating  White 
Plume.  Had  White  Plume  drawn  the  bow  on  the 
buffalo,  eagle  and  rabbit  today,  we  would  have  been 
rid  of  them,  so  I  think  we  had  better  scare  this  Unk 
tomi  into  telling  us  where  White  Plume  is,"  said  the 
young  man. 

"W^ait  until  he  tries  to  kill  the  witches  again  to 
morrow,"  said  the  chief. 

In  the  meantime  the  younger  daughter  had  taken 
an  axe  and  gone  into  the  woods  in  search  of  dry 

—165— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

wood.  She  went  quite  a  little  distance  into  the  wood 
and  was  chopping  a  dry  log.  Stopping  to  rest  a 
little  she  heard  some  one  saying:  "Whoever  you  are, 
come  over  here  and  chop  this  tree  down  so  that  I 
may  get  loose."  Going  to  where  the  big  tree  stood, 
she  saw  a  man  stuck  onto  the  side  of  the  tree.  "If 
I  chop  it  down  the  fall  will  kill  you,"  said  the  girl. 
"No,  chop  it  on  the  opposite  side  from  me,  and  the 
tree  will  fall  that  way.  If  the  fall  kills  me,  it  will 
be  better  than  hanging  up  here  and  starving  to  death," 
said  White  Plume,  for  it  was  he. 

The  girl  chopped  the  tree  down  and  when  she  saw 
that  it  had  not  killed  the  man,  she  said:  "What  shall 
I  do  now  ?"  "Loosen  the  bark  from  the  tree  and  then 
get  some  stones  and  heat  them.  Get  some  water  and 
sage  and  put  your  blanket  over  me."  She  did  as 
told  and  when  the  steam  arose  from  the  water  be 
ing  poured  upon  the  heated  rocks,  the  bark  loosened 
from  his  body  and  he  arose.  When  he  stood  up, 
she  saw  how  handsome  he  was.  "You  have  saved 
my  life,"  said  he.  "Will  you  be  my  wife  ?"  "I  will," 
said  she.  He  then  told  her  how  the  old  man  had 
fooled  him  into  this  trap  and  took  his  bow  and  ar 
rows,  also  his  fine  porcupine  worked  clothes,  and  had 
gone  off,  leaving  him  to  die.  She,  in  turn,  told  him 
all  that  had  happened  in  camp  since  a  man,  calling 
himself  White  Plume,  came  there  and  married  her 
sister  before  he  shot  at  the  witches,  and  when  he 
came  to  shoot  at  them,  missed  every  shot.  "Let  us 
make  haste,  as  the  bad  Unktomi  may  ruin  my  arrows." 

—166— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

They  approached  the  camp  and  whilst  White  Plume 
waited  outside,  his  promised  wife  entered  Unktomi's 
tent  and  said:  "Unktomi,  White  Plume  is  standing 
outside  and  he  wants  his  clothes  and  bow  and  arrows." 
"Oh,  yes,  I  borrowed  them  and  forgot  to  return  them ; 
make  haste  and  give  them  to  him." 

Upon  receiving  his  clothes,  he  was  very  much 
provoked  to  find  his  fine  clothes  wrinkled  and  his 
bow  twisted,  while  the  arrows  were  twisted  out  of 
shape.  He  laid  the  clothes  down,  also  the  bows  and 
arrows,  and  passing  his  hand  over  them,  they  assumed 
their  right  shapes  again.  The  daughter  took  White 
Plume  to  her  father's  tent  and  upon  hearing  the  story 
he  at  once  sent  for  his  warriors  and  had  them  form 
a  circle  around  Unktomi's  tent,  and  if  he  attempted 
to  escape  to  catch  him  and  tie  him  to  a  tree,  as  he 
(the  chief)  had  determined  to  settle  accounts  with 
him  for  his  treatment  of  White  Plume,  and  the  de 
ception  employed  in  \vinning  the  chief's  eldest  daugh 
ter.  About  midnight  the  guard  noticed  something 
crawling  along  close  to  the  ground,  and  seizing  him 
found  it  was  Unktomi  trying  to  make  his  escape  be 
fore  daylight,  whereupon  they  tied  him  to  a  tree. 
"Why  do  you  treat  me  thus,"  cried  Unktomi,  "I  was 
just  going  out  in  search  of  medicine  to  rub  on  my  ar 
rows,  so  I  can  kill  the  witches."  "You  will  need 
medicine  to  rub  on  yourself  when  the  chief  gets 
through  with  you,"  said  the  young  man  who  had 
discovered  that  Unktomi  was  impersonating  White 
Plume. 

—167— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

In  the  morning  the  herald  announced  that  the  real 
White  Plume  had  arrived,  and  the  chief  desired  the 
whole  nation  to  witness  his  marksmanship.  Then 
came  the  cry:  "The  White  Buffalo  comes."  Taking 
his  red  arrow,  White  Plume  stood  ready.  When  the 
buffalo  got  about  opposite  him,  he  let  his  arrow  fly. 
The  buffalo  bounded  high  in  the  air  and  came  down 
with  all  four  feet  drawn  together  under  its  body,  the 
red  arrow  having  passed  clear  through  the  animal, 
piercing  the  buffalo's  heart.  A  loud  cheer  went  up 
from  the  village. 

"You  shall  use  the  hide  for  your  bed,"  said  the 
chief  to  White  Plume.  Next  came  a  cry,  "the  eagle, 
the  eagle."  From  the  north  came  an  enormous  red 
eagle.  So  strong  was  he,  that  as  he  soared  through 
the  air  his  wings  made  a  humming  sound  as  the  rum 
ble  of  distant  thunder.  On  he  came,  and  just  as 
he  circled  the  tent  of  the  chief,  White  Plume  bent 
his  bow,  with  all  his  strength  drew  the  arrow  back 
to  the  flint  point,  and  sent  the  blue  arrow  on  its  mis 
sion  of  death.  So  swiftly  had  the  arrow  passed 
through  the  eagle's  body  that,  thinking  White  Plume 
had  missed,  a  great  wail  went  up  from  the  crowd, 
but  when  they  saw  the  eagle  stop  in  his  flight,  give 
a  few  flaps  of  his  wings,  and  then  fall  with  a  heavy 
thud  into  the  center  of  the  village,  there  was  a  great 
er  cheer  than  before.  "The  red  eagle  shall  be  used 
to  decorate  the  seat  of  honor  in  your  tepee,"  said  the 
chief  to  White  Plume.  Last  came  the  white  rab 
bit.  "Aim  good,  aim  good,  son-in-law,"  said  the 

—168— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

chief.  "If  you  kill  him  you  will  have  his  skin  for  a 
rug."  Along  came  the  white  rabbit,  and  White  Plume 
sent  his  arrow  in  search  of  rabbit's  heart,  which  it 
found,  and  stopped  Mr.  Rabbit's  tricks  forever. 

The  chief  then  called  all  of  the  people  together 
and  before  them  all  took  a  hundred  willows  and  broke 
them  one  at  a  time  over  Unktomi's  back.  Then  he 
turned  him  loose.  Unktomi,  being  so  ashamed,  ran 
off  into  the  woods  and  hid  in  the  deepest  and  dark 
est  corner  he  could  find.  This  is  why  Unktomis 
(spiders)  are  always  found  in  dark  corners,  and  any 
one  who  is  deceitful  or  untruthful  is  called  a  descend 
ant  of  the  Unktomi  tribe. 


—169— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 


STORY  OF  PRETTY  FEATHERED  FOREHEAD 


There  was  once  a  baby  boy  who  came  into  the 
world  with  a  small  cluster  of  different  colored  feath 
ers  grown  fast  to  his  forehead.  From  this  he  derived 
his  name,  "Pretty  Feathered  Forehead."  He  was  a 
very  pleasant  boy  as  well  as  handsome,  and  he  had 
the  respect  of  the  whole  tribe.  When  he  had  grown 
up  to  be  a  young  man,  he  never,  like  other  young  men, 
made  love  to  any  of  the  tribe's  beauties.  Although 
they  were  madly  in  love  with  him,  he  never  noticed 
any  of  them.  There  were  many  handsome  girls  in 
the  different  camps,  but  he  passed  them  by. 

One  day  he  said:  "Father,  I  am  going  on  a  visit 
to  the  Buffalo  nation/'  The  father  gave  his  con 
sent,  and  away  went  the  son.  The  father  and  mother 
suspected  the  object  of  their  son's  visit  to  the  Buffalo 
nation,  and  forthwith  commenced  preparing  a  fine 
reception  for  their  intended  daughter-in-law.  The 
mother  sewed  together  ten  buffalo  hides  and  painted 
the  brave  deeds  of  her  husband  on  them.  This  she 
made  into  a  commodious  tent,  and  had  work  bags  and 
fine  robes  and  blankets  put  inside.  This  was  to  be 
the  tent  of  their  son  and  daughter-in-law.  In  a  few 
weeks  the  son  returned,  bringing  with  him  a  beautiful 
Buffalo  girl.  The  parents  of  the  boy  gave  a  big  feast 
in  honor  of  the  occasion,  and  the  son  and  his  wife 
lived  very  happily  together. 

In  the  course  of  time  a  son  came  to  the  young 
couple,  and  the  father  was  very  proud  of  his  boy. 

—170— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

When  the  boy  became  a  year  old,  the  father  said  to 
his  wife:  "I  am  going  for  a  visit  to  the  Elk  nation." 
The  mother  was  very  sad,  as  she  knew  her  husband 
was  going  after  another  wife.  He  returned,  bring 
ing  with  him  a  very  beautiful  elk  girl.  When  the 
Buffalo  woman  saw  the  elk  girl  she  was  very  down 
cast  and  sad,  but  the  husband  said:  "Don't  be  sad; 
she  will  do  all  the  heavy  work  for  you." 

They  lived  quite  happily  together  for  a  long  time. 
The  Elk  girl  also  became  the  mother  of  a  fine  boy. 
The  two  boys  had  grown  up  large  enough  to  play 
around.  One  day  the  Elk  woman  was  tanning  hides 
outside  and  the  two  boys  were  playing  around  near 
their  mothers,  when  all  at  once  the  buffalo  boy  ran 
across  the  robe,  leaving  his  tracks  on  the  white  robe 
which  his  step-mother  had  nearly  completed.  This 
provoked  the  elk  woman  and  she  gave  vent  to  her 
feelings  by  scolding  the  boy:  "You  clumsy  flat 
mouth,  why  couldn't  you  run  around  my  work,  in 
stead  of  across  it?"  The  buffalo  cow  standing  in 
the  door,  heard  every  word  that  the  elk  woman  had 
said,  and  when  she  heard  her  son  called  flat  mouth  it 
made  her  very  angry,  although  she  did  not  say  a  word 
to  any  one.  She  hurriedly  gathered  some  of  her  be 
longings  and,  calling  her  son,  she  started  off  in  a 
westerly  direction. 

The  husband  being  absent  on  a  hunting  expedition 

did  not  return  until  late  in  the  afternoon.     Upon  his 

return  his  oldest  boy  always   ran  out  to   meet  him, 

but  this  time  as  the  boy  did  not  put  in  an  appearance, 

—171— 


MYTHS 


O  F 


THE 


SIOUX 


the  father  feared  that  something  had  happened  to 
the  boy.  So  hurriedly  going  to  his  tent  he  looked 
around,  but  failing  to  see  the  boy  or  his  mother,  he 
asked  his  elk  wife,  where  the  boy  and  his  mother 
were.  The  elk  wife  answered :  "  She  took  her  boy  on 
her  back  and  started  off  in  that  direction,"  (pointing 
towards  the  west).  "How  long  has  she  been  gone?" 
"Since  early  morning."  The  husband  hurriedly  caught 


PRETTY-FEATHERED-FOREHEAD  MARRIED  AN 
ELK  WOMAN  AND  A  BUFFALO  WOMAN 

a  fresh  horse  and,  without  eating  anything,  rode  off 
in  the  direction  taken  by  his  buffalo  wife  and  boy. 
Near  dark  he  ascended  a  high  hill  and  noticed  a  small 
tent  down  in  the  valley.  It  was  a  long  distance  down 
to  the  tent,  so  it  was  very  late  when  he  arrived  there. 
He  tethered  his  horse  and  went  into  the  tent  and 
found  the  boy  and  his  mother  fast  asleep.  Upon  lying 

—172— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

down  beside  them  the  boy  awoke,  and  upon  seeing 
his  father,  motioned  to  him  to  go  outside  with  him. 

On  going  outside  the  boy  told  his  father  that  it 
would  be  useless  for  him  to  try  and  coax  his  mother 
to  return,  as  she  was  too  highly  insulted  by  the  elk 
wife  to  ever  return.  Then  the  boy  told  about  what 
the  elk  wife  had  said  and  that  she  had  called  him  flat 
mouth.  "My  mother  is  determined  to  return  to  her 
people,  but  if  you  want  to  follow  us  you  may,  and 
perhaps,  after  she  has  visited  with  her  relatives  a 
little  while,  you  may  induce  her  to  return  with  you. 
In  the  morning  we  are  going  to  start  very  early,  and 
as  the  country  we  will  travel  through  is  very  hard  soil, 
I  will  stamp  my  feet  hard  so  as  to  leave  my  tracks 
imprinted  in  the  softest  places,  then  you  will  be  able 
to  follow  the  direction  we  will  take." 

The  two  went  into  the  tent  and  were  soon  fast 
asleep.  The  father,  being  very  much  fatigued,  slept 
very  soundly,  and  when  he  awoke  the  sun  was  beating 
down  upon  him.  The  mother  and  boy  were  nowhere 
to  be  seen.  The  tent  had  been  taken  down  from  over 
him  so  carefully  that  he  had  not  been  awakened.  Get 
ting  his  horse,  he  mounted  and  rode  after  the  two  who 
had  left  him  sleeping.  He  had  no  trouble  in  follow 
ing  the  trail,  as  the  boy  had  stamped  his  feet  hard 
and  left  his  little  tracks  in  the  soft  places. 

That  evening  he  spied  the   little   tent  again   and 

on  getting  to  it  found  them  both  asleep.     The  boy 

awoke  and  motioned  for  his  father  to  go  outside.    He 

again  told  his  father  that  the  next  day's  travel  would 

—173— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

be  the  hardest  of  all.  "We  will  cross  a  great  plain, 
but  before  we  get  there  we  will  cross  a  sandy  hol 
low.  When  you  get  to  the  hollow,  look  at  my  tracks ; 
they  will  be  deep  into  the  sand,  and  in  each  track  you 
will  see  little  pools  of  water.  Drink  as  much  as  you 
can,  as  this  is  the  only  chance  you  will  get  to  have  a 
drink,  there  being  no  water  from  there  to  the  big 
ridge,  and  it  will  be  dark  by  the  time  you  get  to  the 
ridge.  The  relations  of  my  mother  live  at  that  ridge 
and  I  will  come  and  talk  to  you  once  more,  before  I 
leave  you  to  join  my  mother's  people." 

Next  morning,  as  before,  he  awoke  to  find  himself 
alone.  They  had  left  him  and  proceeded  on  their 
journey.  He  mounted  again  and  when  he  arrived  at 
the  sandy  hollow,  sure  enough,  there,  deep  in  the 
sand,  were  the  tracks  of  his  son  filled  to  the  top  with 
water.  He  drank  and  drank  until  he  had  drained 
the  last  one.  Then  he  arose  and  continued  on  the 
trail,  and  near  sundown  he  came  in  sight  of  their  little 
tent  away  up  on  the  side  of  the  ridge.  His  horse 
suddenly  staggered  and  fell  forward  dead,  having  died 
of  thirst. 

From  there  he  proceeded  on  foot.  When  he  got 
to  where  the  tent  stood  he  entered,  only  to  find  it 
empty.  "I  guess  my  son  intends  to  come  here  and 
have  his  last  talk  with  me,"  thought  the  father.  He 
had  eaten  nothing  for  three  days,  and  was  nearly  fam 
ished.  He  lay  down,  but  the  pangs  of  hunger  kept 
sleep  away.  He  heard  footsteps  outside  and  lay  in 
readiness,  thinking  it  might  be  an  enemy.  Slowly 
—174— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

opening  the  covering  of  the  door,  his  son  looked  in, 
and  seeing  his  father  lying  awake,  drew  back  and  ran 
off  up  the  ridge,  but  soon  returned  bringing  a  small 
parcel  with  him.  When  he  entered  he  gave  the  par 
cel  to  his  father  and  said:  "Eat,  father;  I  stole  this 
food  for  you,  so  I  could  not  get  very  much."  The 
father  soon  ate  what  his  son  had  brought.  When  he 
had  finished,  the  son  said:  'Tomorrow  morning  the 
relatives  of  my  mother  will  come  over  here  and  take 
you  down  to  the  village.  My  mother  has  three  sis 
ters  who  have  their  work  bags  made  identically  the 
same  as  mother's.  Were  they  to  mix  them  up  they 
could  not  each  pick  out  her  own  without  looking  in 
side  so  as  to  identify  them  by  what  they  have  in  them. 
You  will  be  asked  to  pick  out  mother's  work  bag,  and 
if  you  fail  they  will  trample  you  to  death.  Next  they 
will  tell  you  to  pick  out  my  mother  from  among  her 
sisters,  and  you  will  be  unable  to  distinguish  her 
from  the  other  three,  and  if  you  fail  they  will  bury 
you  alive.  The  last  they  will  try  you  on,  in  case  you 
meet  the  first  and  second  tests  successfully,  will  be 
to  require  you  to  pick  me  out  from  my  three  cousins, 
who  are  as  much  like  me  as  my  reflection  in  the  wa 
ter.  The  bags  you  can  tell  by  a  little  pebble  I  will 
place  on  my  mother's.  You  can  pick  my  mother  out 
by  a  small  piece  of  grass  which  I  will  put  in  her  hair, 
and  you  can  pick  me  out  from  my  cousins,  for  when 
we  commence  to  dance,  I  will  shake  my  head,  flop  my 
ears  and  switch  my  tail.  You  must  choose  quickly, 
as  they  will  be  very  angry  at  your  success,  and  if  you 
—175— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

lose  any  time  they  will  make  the  excuse  that  you 
did  not  know,  that  they  may  have  an  excuse  to  tram 
ple  you  to  death." 

The  boy  then  left,  after  admonishing  his  father 
to  remember  all  that  he  had  told  him.  Early  next 
morning  the  father  heard  a  great  rumbling  noise,  and 
going  outside,  he  saw  the  whole  hillside  covered  with 
buffalo.  When  he  appeared  they  set  up  a  loud  bel 
lowing  and  circled  around  him.  One  old  bull  came 
up  and  giving  a  loud  snort,  passed  on  by,  looking  back 
every  few  steps.  The  man,  thinking  he  was  to  fol 
low  this  one,  did  so,  and  the  whole  herd,  forming 
a  half  circle  around  him,  escorted  him  down  the  west 
side  of  the  range  out  on  to  a  large  plain,  where  there 
stood  a  lone  tree.  To  this  tree  the  old  bull  led  him  and 
stopped  when  he  reached  the  tree.  A  large  rock  at 
the  foot  of  the  tree  served  as  a  seat  for  the  man.  As 
soon  as  he  was  seated  there  came  four  female  buffaloes, 
each  bearing  a  large  work  box.  They  set  the  boxes 
down  in  a  row  in  front  of  the  man,  and  the  herd 
crowded  around  closer  in  order  to  get  a  good  view. 
The  old  bull  came  to  the  front  and  stood  close  to  the 
bags,  which  had  been  taken  out  of  the  four  boxes. 

The  man  stood  up,  and  looking  at  the  bags,  noticed 
a  small  pebble  resting  on  the  one  next  to  the  left  end. 
Stepping  over  he  pulled  the  bag  towards  him  and 
secretly  pushed  the  little  pebble  off  the  bag,  so  that 
no  one  would  notice  it.  When  they  saw  that  he  had 
selected  the  right  one,  they  set  up  a  terrific  bellow. 

Then  came  the  four  sisters  and  stood  in  a  line  be- 

—176— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

fore  the  man.  Glancing  along  from  the  one  on  the 
right  to  the  last  one  on  the  left,  he  stepped  forward 
and  placed  his  hand  on  the  one  next  to  the  right. 
Thanks  to  his  boy,  if  he  hadn't  put  that  little  stem 
of  grass  on  his  mother's  hair,  the  father  could  never 
have  picked  out  his  wife,  as  the  four  looked  as  much 
alike  as  four  peas.  Next  came  the  four  boy  calves, 
and  as  they  advanced  they  commenced  dancing,  and 
his  son  was  shaking  his  head  and  flopping  his  ears  and 
switching  his  tail.  The  father  was  going  to  pick 
out  his  boy,  when  a  fainting  spell  took  him,  and  as  he 
sank  to  the  ground  the  old  bull  sprang  forward  on 
top  of  him,  and  instantly  they  rushed  upon  him  and  he 
was  soon  trampled  to  a  jelly.  The  herd  then  moved 
to  other  parts. 

The  elk  wife  concluded  that  something  had  hap 
pened  to  her  husband  and  determined  upon  going 
in  search  of  him.  As  she  was  very  fleet  of  foot  it 
did  not  take  her  long  to  arrive  at  the  lone  tree.  She 
noticed  the  blood  splashed  on  the  base  of  the  tree, 
and  small  pieces  of  flesh  stamped  into  the  earth.  Look 
ing  closer,  she  noticed  something  white  in  the  dust. 
Stooping  and  picking  it  out  of  the  dust,  she  drew 
forth  the  cluster  of  different  colored  feathers  which 
had  been  fastened  to  her  husband's  forehead.  She  at 
once  took  the  cluster  of  feathers,  and  going  to  the 
east  side  of  the  ridge,  heated  stones  and  erected  a 
wickie-up,  placed  the  feathers  inside,  and  getting  wa 
ter,  she  sprinkled  the  stones,  and  this  caused  a  thick 
vapor  in  the  wickee-up.  She  continued  this  for  a  long 
—177— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

time,  when  she  heard  something  moving  inside  the 
wickee-up.  Then  a  voice  spoke  up,  saying:  ''Whoever 
you  are,  pour  some  more  water  on  and  I  will  be  all 
right."  So  the  woman  got  more  water  and  poured 
it  on  the  rocks.  "That  will  do  now,  I  want  to  dry 
off."  She  plucked  a  pile  of  sage  and  in  handing  it 
in  to  him,  he  recognized  his  elk  wife's  hand. 

They  went  back  home  and  shortly  after  the  buf 
falo,  hearing  about  him  coming  back  to  life,  decided 
to  make  war  on  him  and  kill  him  and  his  wife,  she 
being  the  one  who  brought  him  back  to  life.  The 
woman,  hearing  of  this,  had  posts  set  in  the  ground 
and  a  strong  platform  placed  on  top.  When  the  buf 
falo  came,  her  husband,  her  son  and  herself,  were 
seated  upon  the  bough  platform,  and  the  buffalo  could 
not  reach  them.  She  flouted  her  red  blanket  in  their 
faces,  which  made  the  buffalo  wild  with  rage.  The 
hunter's  friends  came  to  his  rescue,  and  so  fast  were 
they  killing  the  buffalo  that  they  took  flight  and  rush 
ed  away,  never  more  to  bother  Pretty  Feather  Fore 
head. 


-178— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 
THE  FOUR  BROTHERS 

OR 

INYANHOKSILA  (STONE  BOY) 


Alone  and  apart  from  their  tribe  dwelt  four  or 
phan  brothers.  They  had  erected  a  very  comfortable 
hut,  although  the  materials  used  were  only  willows, 
hay,  birch  bark,  and  adobe  mud.  After  the  comple 
tion  of  their  hut,  the  oldest  brother  laid  out  the  dif 
ferent  kinds  of  work  to  be  done  by  the  four  of  them. 
He  and  the  second  and  third  brothers  were  to  do  all 
the  hunting,  and  the  youngest  brother  was  to  do  the 
house  work,  cook  the  meals,  and  keep  plenty  of  wood 
on  hand  at  all  times. 

As  his  older  brothers  would  leave  for  their  hunt 
ing  very  early  every  morning,  and  would  not  return 
till  late  at  night,  the  little  fellow  always  found  plenty 
of  spare  time  to  gather  into  little  piles  fine  dry  wood 
for  their  winter  use. 

Thus  the  four  brothers  lived  happily  for  a  long 
time.  One  day  while  out  gathering  and  piling  up 
wood,  the  boy  heard  a  rustling  in  the  leaves  and 
looking  around  he  saw  a  young  woman  standing  in 
the  cherry  bushes,  smiling  at  him. 

"Who  are  you,  and  where  did  you  come  from?" 
asked  the  boy,  in  surprise.  "I  am  an  orphan  girl  and 
have  no  relatives  living.  I  came  from  the  village 
west  of  here.  I  learned  from  rabbit  that  there  were 
four  orphan  brothers  living  here  all  alone,  and  that 
the  youngest  was  keeping  house  for  his  older  broth- 

—179— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

ers,  so  I  thought  I  would  come  over  and  see  if  I 
couldn't  have  them  adopt  me  as  their  sister,  so  that 
I  might  keep  house  for  them,  as  I  am  very  poor  and 
have  no  relations,  neither  have  I  a  home." 

She  looked  so  pitiful  and  sad  that  the  boy  thought 
to  himself,  "I  will  take  her  home  with  me,  poor  girl, 
no  matter  what  my  brothers  think  or  say."  Then  he 
said  to  her:  "Come  on,  tanke  (sister).  You  may  go 
home  with  me ;  I  am  sure  my  older  brothers  will  be 
glad  to  have  you  for  our  sister." 

When  they  arrived  at  the  hut,  the  girl  hustled  about 
and  cooked  up  a  fine  hot  supper,  and  when  the  broth 
ers  returned  they  were  surprised  to  see  a  girl  sit 
ting  by  the  fire  in  their  hut.  After  they  had  entered 
the  youngest  brother  got  up  and  walked  outside,  and 
a  short  time  after  the  oldest  brother  followed  him 
out.  "Who  is  that  girl,  and  where  did  she  come 
from?"  he  asked  his  brother.  Whereupon  the  brother 
told  him  the  whole  story.  Upon  hearing  this  the  old 
est  brother  felt  very  sorry  for  the  poor  orphan  girl 
and  going  back  into  the  hut  he  spoke  to  the  girl,  say 
ing:  "Sister,  you  are  an  orphan,  the  same  as  we; 
you  have  no  relatives,  no  home.  We  will  be  your 
brothers,  and  our  poor  hut  shall  be  your  home.  Hence 
forth  call  us  brothers,  and  you  will  be  our  sister." 

"Oh,  how  happy  I  am  now  that  you  take  me  as 
your  sister.  I  will  be  to  you  all  as  though  we  were 
of  the  same  father  and  mother,"  said  the  girl.  And 
true  to  her  word,  she  looked  after  everything  of  her 
brothers  and  kept  the  house  in  such  fine  shape  that 

—180— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

the  brothers  blessed  the  day  that  she  came  to  their 
poor  little  hut.  She  always  had  an  extra  buckskin 
suit  and  two  pairs  of  moccasins  hanging  at  the  head 
of  each  one's  bed.  Buffalo,  deer,  antelope,  bear,  wolf, 
wildcat,  mountain  lion  and  beaver  skins  she  tanned  by 
the  dozen,  and  piled  nicely  in  one  corner  of  the  hut. 

When  the  Indians  have  walked  a  great  distance 
and  are  very  tired,  they  have  great  faith  in  painting 
their  feet,  claiming  that  paint  eases  the  pain  and  rests 
their  feet. 

After  their  return  from  a  long  day's  journey,  when 
they  would  be  lying  down  resting,  the  sister  would 
get  her  paint  and  mix  it  with  the  deer  tallow  and  rub 
the  paint  on  her  brother's  feet,  painting  them  up 
to  their  ankles.  The  gentle  touch  of  her  hands,  and 
the  soothing  qualities  of  the  tallow  and  paint  soon  put 
them  into  a  deep,  dreamless  sleep. 

Many  such  kind  actions  on  her  part  won  the  hearts 
of  the  brothers,  and  never  was  a  full  blood  sister 
loved  more  than  was  this  poor  orphan  girl,  who  had 
been  taken  as  their  adopted  sister.  In  the  morn 
ing  when  they  arose,  the  sister  always  combed  their 
long  black  silken  scalp  locks  and  painted  the  circle 
around  the  scalp  lock  a  bright  vermillion. 

When  the  hunters  would  return  with  a  goodly 
supply  of  beef,  the  sister  would  hurry  and  relieve 
them  of  their  packs,  hanging  each  one  high  enough 
from  the  ground  so  the  prowling  dogs  and  coyotes 
could  not  reach  them.  The  hunters  each  had  a  post 
on  which  to  hang  his  bow  and  flint  head  arrows. 

—181— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .*.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

(Good  hunters  never  laid  their  arrows  on  the  ground, 
as  it  was  considered  unlucky  to  the  hunter  who  let 
his  arrows  touch  the  earth  after  they  had  been  out 
of  the  quiver).  They  were  all  perfectly  happy,  until 
one  day  the  older  brother  surprised  them  all  by  say 
ing:  "We  have  a  plentiful  supply  of  meat  on  hand 
at  present  to  last  us  for  a  week  or  so.  I  am  going 
for  a  visit  to  the  village  west  of  us,  so  you  boys  all 
stay  at  home  and  help  sister.  Also  gather  as  much 
wood  as  you  can  and  I  will  be  back  again  in  four 
days.  On  my  return  we  will  resume  our  hunting  and 
commence  getting  our  year's  supply  of  meat." 

He  left  the  next  morning,  and  the  last  they  saw 
of  him  was  while  he  stood  at  the  top  of  the  long  range 
of  hills  west  of  their  home.  Four  days  had  come  and 
gone  and  no  sign  of  the  oldest  brother. 

"I  am  afraid  that  our  brother  has  met  with  some 
accident,"  said  the  sister.  "I  am  afraid  so,  too,"  said 
the  next  oldest.  "I  must  go  and  search  for  him;  he 
may  be  in  some  trouble  where  a  little  help  would  get 
him  out."  The  second  brother  followed  the  direction 
his  brother  had  taken,  and  when  he  came  to  the  top 
of  the  long  range  of  hills  he  sat  down  and  gazed  long 
and  steadily  down  into  the  long  valley  with  a  beau 
tiful  creek  winding  through  it.  Across  the  valley 
was  a  long  plain  stretching  for  miles  beyond  and 
finally  ending  at  the  foot  of  another  range  of  hills,  the 
counterpart  of  the  one  upon  which  he  sat 

After  noting  the  different  landmarks  carefully, 
he  arose  and  slowly  started  down  the  slope  and  soon 

—182— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .*.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

came  to  the  creek  he  had  seen  from  the  top  of  the 
range.  Great  was  his  surprise  on  arriving  at  the  creek 
to  find  what  a  difference  there  was  in  the  appearance 
of  it  from  the  range  and  where  he  stood.  From  the 
range  it  appeared  to  be  a  quiet,  harmless,  laughing 
stream.  Now  he  saw  it  to  be  a  muddy,  boiling,  bub 
bling  torrent,  with  high  perpendicular  banks.  For  a 
long  time  he  stood,  thinking  which  way  to  go,  up  or 
down  stream.  He  had  just  decided  to  go  down  stream, 
when,  on  chancing  to  look  up,  he  noticed  a  thin  col 
umn  of  smoke  slowly  ascending  from  a  little  knoll. 
He  approached  the  place  cautiously  and  noticed  a 
door  placed  into  the  creek  bank  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  stream.  As  he  stood  looking  at  the  door,  won 
dering  who  could  be  living  in  a  place  like  that,  it 
suddenly  opened  and  a  very  old  appearing  woman 
came  out  and  stood  looking  around  her.  Soon  she 
spied  the  young  man,  and  said  to  him :  "My  grand 
child,  where  did  you  come  from  and  whither  are  you 
bound?"  The  young  man  answered:  "I  came  from 
east  of  this  ridge  and  am  in  search  of  my  oldest 
brother,  who  came  over  in  this  direction  five  days 
ago  and  who  has  not  yet  returned." 

"Your  brother  stopped  here  and  ate  his  dinner 
with  me,  and  then  left,  traveling  towards  the  west," 
said  the  old  witch,  for  such  she  was.  "Now,  grand 
son,  come  across  on  that  little  log  bridge  up  the 
stream  there  and  have  your  dinner  with  me.  I  have 
it  all  cooked  now  and  just  stepped  outside  to  see  if 
there  might  not  be  some  hungry  traveler  about,  whom 

—183— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

I  could  invite  in  to  eat  dinner  with  me."  The  young 
man  went  up  the  stream  a  little  distance  and  found 
a  couple  of  small  logs  which  had  been  placed  across 
the  stream  to  serve  as  a  bridge.  He  crossed  over  and 
went  down  to  the  old  woman's  dugout  hut.  "Come 
in  grandson,  and  eat.  I  know  you  must  be  hungry." 

The  young  man  sat  down  and  ate  a  real  hearty 
meal.  On  finishing  he  arose  and  said :  "Grandmother, 
I  thank  you  for  your  meal  and  kindness  to  me.  I 
would  stay  and  visit  with  you  awhile,  as  I  know  it 
must  be  very  lonely  here  for  you,  but  I  am  very  anx 
ious  to  find  my  brother,  so  I  must  be  going.  On  my 
return  I  will  stop  with  my  brother  and  we  will  pay 
you  a  little  visit." 

"Very  well,  grandson,  but  before  you  go,  I  wish 
you  would  do  me  a  little  favor.  Your  brother  did 
it  for  me  before  he  left,  and  cured  me,  but  it  has 
come  back  on  me  again.  I  am  subject  to  very  severe 
pains  along  the  left  side  of  my  backbone,  all  the  way 
from  my  shoulder  blade  down  to  where  my  ribs  at 
tach  to  my  backbone,  and  the  only  way  I  get  any 
relief  from  the  pain  is  to  have  some  one  kick  me 
along  the  side."  (She  was  a  witch,  and  concealed 
in  her  robe  a  long  sharp  steel  spike.  It  was  placed 
so  that  the  last  kick  they  would  give  her,  their  foot 
would  hit  the  spike  and  they  would  instantly  drop 
off  into  a  swoon,  as  if  dead.) 

"If  I  won't  hurt  you  too  much,  grandmother,  I 
certainly  will  be  glad  to  do  it  for  you,"  said  the  young 
man,  little  thinking  he  would  be  the  one  to  get  hurt. 

—184— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"No,  grandson,  don't  be  afraid  of  hurting  me; 
the  harder  you  kick  the  longer  the  pain  stays  away." 
She  laid  down  on  the  floor  and  rolled  over  on  to  her 
right  side,  so  he  could  get  a  good  chance  to  kick 
the  left  side  where  she  said  the  pain  was  located. 

As  he  moved  back  to  give  the  first  kick,  he  glanced 
along  the  floor  and  he  noticed  a  long  object  wrapped 
in  a  blanket,  lying  against  the  opposite  wall.  He 
thought  it  looked  strange  and  was  going  to  stop  and 
investigate,  but  just  then  the  witch  cried  out  as  if 
in  pain.  "Hurry  up,  grandson,  I  am  going  to  die 
if  you  don't  hurry  and  start  in  kicking."  "I  can  in 
vestigate  after  I  get  through  with  her,"  thought  he, 
so  he  started  in  kicking  and  every  kick  he  would  give 
her  she  would  cry:  "Harder,  kick  harder."  He  had 
to  kick  seven  times  before  he  would  get  to  the  end 
of  the  pain,  so  he  let  out  as  hard  as  he  could  drive, 
and  when  he  came  to  the  last  kick  he  hit  the  spike, 
and  driving  it  through  his  foot,  fell  down  in  a  dead 
swoon,  and  was  rolled  up  in  a  blanket  by  the  witch 
and  placed  beside  his  brother  at  the  opposite  side  of 
the  room. 

When  the  second  brother  failed  to  return,  the  third 
went  in  search  of  the  two  missing  ones.  He  fared  no 
better  than  the  second  one,  as  he  met  the  old  witch 
who  served  him  in  a  similar  manner  as  she  had  his 
two  brothers. 

"Ha!  Ha!"  she  laughed,  when  she  caught  the 
third,  "I  have  only  one  more  of  them  to  catch,  and 
when  I  get  them  I  will  keep  them  all  here  a  year, 

—185— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

and  then  I  will  turn  them  into  horses  and  sell  them 
back  to  their  sister.  I  hate  her,  for  I  was  going  to 
try  and  keep  house  for  them  and  marry  the  oldest 
one,  but  she  got  ahead  of  me  and  became  their  sis 
ter,  so  now  I  will  get  my  revenge  on  her.  Next 
year  she  will  be  riding  and  driving  her  brothers  and 
she  won't  know  it." 

When  the  third  brother  failed  to  return,  the  sis 
ter  cried  and  begged  the  last  one  not  to  venture  out 
in  search  of  them.  But  go  he  must,  and  go  he  did, 
only  to  do  as  his  three  brothers  had  done. 

Now  the  poor  sister  was  nearly  distracted.  Day 
and  night  she  wandered  over  hills  and  through  woods 
in  hopes  she  might  find  or  hear  of  some  trace  of  them. 
Her  wanderings  were  in  vain.  The  hawks  had  not 
seen  them  after  they  had  crossed  the  little  stream. 
The  wolves  and  coyotes  told  her  that  they  had  seen 
nothing  of  her  brothers  out  on  the  broad  plains,  and 
she  had  given  them  up  for  dead. 

One  day,  as  she  was  sitting  by  the  little  stream 
that  flowed  past  their  hut,  throwing  pebbles  into  the 
water  and  wondering  what  she  should  do,  she  picked 
up  a  pure  white  pebble,  smooth  and  round,  and  after 
looking  at  it  for  a  long  time,  threw  it  into  the  water. 
No  sooner  had  it  hit  the  water  than  she  saw  it  grow 
larger.  She  took  it  out  and  looked  at  it  and  threw 
it  in  again.  This  time  it  had  assumed  the  form  of 
a  baby.  She  took  it  out  and  threw  it  in  the  third 
time  and  the  form  took  life  and  began  to  cry:  "Ina, 
ina"  (mother,  mother).  She  took  the  baby  home  and 

—186— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

fed  it  soup,  and  it  being  an  unnatural  baby,  quickly 
grew  up  to  a  good  sized  boy.  At  the  end  of  three 
months  he  was  a  good  big,  stout  youth.  One  day 
he  said:  ''Mother,  why  are  you  living  here  alone? 
To  whom  do  all  these  fine  clothes  and  moccasins  be 
long?"  She  then  told  him  the  story  of  her  lost  broth 
ers.  "Oh,  I  know  now  where  they  are.  You  make 
me  lots  of  arrows.  I  am  going  to  find  my  uncles." 
She  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  going,  but  he  was 
determined  and  said :  "My  father  sent  me  to  you  so 
that  I  could  find  my  uncles  for  you,  and  nothing  can 
harm  me,  because  I  am  stone  and  my  name  is  "Stone 
Boy." 

The  mother,  seeing  that  he  was  determined  to  go, 
made  a  whole  quiver  full  of  arrows  for  him,  and  off 
he  started.  When  he  came  to  the  old  witch's  hut,  she 
was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  so  he  pushed  the  door  in  and 
entered.  The  witch  was  busily  engaged  cooking  din 
ner. 

"Why,  my  dear  grandchild,  you  are  just  in  time 
for  dinner.  Sit  down  and  we  will  eat  before  you 
continue  your  journey."  Stone  boy  sat  down  and 
ate  dinner  with  the  old  witch.  She  watched  him  very 
closely,  but  when  she  would  be  drinking  her  soup  he 
would  glance  hastily  around  the  room.  Finally  he  saw 
the  four  bundles  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  and 
he  guessed  at  once  that  there  lay  his  four  uncles. 
When  he  had  finished  eating  he  took  out  his  little  pipe 
and  filled  it  with  "kini-kinic,"  and  commenced  to 
smoke,  wondering  how  the  old  woman  had  managed 

—187— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

to  fool  his  smart  uncles.  He  couldn't  study  it  out, 
so  when  he  had  finished  his  smoke  he  arose  to  pre 
tend  to  go.  When  the  old  woman  saw  him  prepar 
ing  to  leave,  she  said :  "Grandson,  will  you  kick  me 
on  the  left  side  of  my  backbone.  I  am  nearly  dead 
with  pain  and  if  you  kick  me  good  and  hard  it  will 
cure  me."  "All  right,  grandma,"  said  the  boy.  The 
old  witch  lay  down  on  the  floor  and  the  boy  started 
in  to  kick.  At  the  first  kick  he  barely  touched  her. 
"Kick  as  hard  as  you  can,  grandson;  don't  be  afraid 
you  will  hurt  me,  because  you  can't."  With  that  Stone 
Boy  let  drive  and  broke  two  ribs.  She  commenced 
to  yell  and  beg  him  to  stop,  but  he  kept  on  kicking 
until  he  had  kicked  both  sides  of  her  ribs  loose  from 
the  backbone.  Then  he  jumped  on  her  backbone 
and  broke  it  and  killed  the  old  witch. 

He  built  a  big  fire  outside  and  dragged  her  body 
to  it,  and  threw  her  into  the  fire.  Thus  ended  the 
old  woman  who  was  going  to  turn  his  uncles  into 
horses. 

Next  he  cut  willows  and  stuck  them  into  the 
ground  in  a  circle.  The  tops  he  pulled  together,  mak 
ing  a  wickieup.  He  then  took  the  old  woman's  robes 
and  blankets  and  covered  the  wickieup  so  that  no 
air  could  get  inside.  He  then  gathered  sage  brush 
and  covered  the  floor  with  a  good  thick  bed  of  sage; 
got  nice  round  stones  and  got  them  red  hot  in  the 
fire,  and  placed  them  in  the  wickieup  and  proceeded 
to  carry  his  uncles  out  of  the  hut  and  lay  them  down 
on  the  soft  bed  of  sage.  Having  completed  carry- 

—188— 


MYTHS      .*.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

ing  and  depositing  them  around  the  pile  of  rocks, 
he  got  a  bucket  of  water  and  poured  it  on  the  hot 
rocks,  which  caused  a  great  vapor  in  the  little  wickie- 
up.  He  waited  a  little  while  and  then  listened  and 
heard  some  breathing  inside,  so  he  got  another  buck 
et  and  poured  that  on  also.  After  awhile  he  could 
hear  noises  inside  as  though  some  one  were  moving 
about.  He  went  again  and  got  the  third  bucket  and 
after  he  had  poured  that  on  the  rocks,  one  of  the  men 
inside  said:  "Whoever  you  are,  good  friend,  don't 
bring  us  to  life  only  to  scald  us  to  death  again/' 
Stone  boy  then  said:  "Are  all  of  you  alive?"  "Yes," 
said  the  voice.  "Well,  come  out,"  said  the  boy.  And 
with  that  he  threw  off  the  robes  and  blankets,  and  a 
great  cloud  of  vapor  arose  and  settled  around  the 
top  of  the  highest  peak  on  the  long  range,  and  from 
that  did  Smoky  Range  derive  its  name. 

The  uncles,  when  they  heard  who  the  boy  was, 
were  very  happy,  and  they  all  returned  together  to 
the  anxiously  waiting  sister.  As  soon  as  they  got 
home,  the  brothers  worked  hard  to  gather  enough 
wood  to  last  them  all  winter.  Game  they  could  get 
at  all  times  of  the  year,  but  the  heavy  fall  of  snow 
covered  most  of  the  dry  wood  and  also  made  it  very 
difficult  to  drag  wood  through  the  deep  snow.  So 
they  took  advantage  of  the  nice  fall  weather  and  by 
the  time  the  snow  commenced  falling  they  had  enough 
wood  gathered  to  last  them  throughout  the  winter. 
After  the  snow  fell  a  party  of  boys  swiftly  coasted 
down  the  big  hill  west  of  the  brothers'  hut.  The 

—189— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

Stone  boy  used  to  stand  and  watch  them  for  hours 
at  a  time.  His  youngest  uncle  said :  "Why  don't  you 
go  up  and  coast  with  them  ?"  The  boy  said :  "They 
may  be  afraid  of  me,  but  I  guess  I  will  try  once, 
anyway/'  So  the  next  morning  when  the  crowd 
came  coasting,  Stone  boy  started  for  the  hill.  When 
he  had  nearly  reached  the  bottom  of  the  coasting  hill 
all  of  the  boys  ran  off  excepting  two  little  fellows  who 
had  a  large  coaster  painted  in  different  colors  and 
had  little  bells  tied  around  the  edges,  so  when  the 
coaster  was  in  motion  the  bells  made  a  cheerful  tink 
ling  sound.  As  Stone  boy  started  up  the  hill  the 
two  little  fellows  started  down  and  went  past  him  as 
though  shot  from  a  hickory  bow. 

When  they  got  to  the  end  of  their  slide,  they  got 
off  and  started  back  up  the  hill.  It  being  pretty  steep, 
Stone  boy  waited  for  them,  so  as  to  lend  a  hand  to  pull 
the  big  coaster  up  the  hill.  As  the  two  little  fellows 
came  up  with  him  he  knew  at  once  that  they  were 
twins,  as  they  looked  so  much  alike  that  the  only  way 
one  could  be  distinguished  from  the  other  was  by  the 
scarfs  they  wore.  One  wore  red,  the  other  black. 
He  at  once  offered  to  help  them  drag  their  coaster 
to  the  top  of  the  hill.  When  they  got  to  the  top  the 
twins  offered  their  coaster  to  him  to  try  a  ride.  At 
first  he  refused,  but  they  insisted  on  his  taking  it,  as 
they  said  they  would  sooner  rest  until  he  came  back. 
So  he  got  on  the  coaster  and  flew  down  the  hill,  only 
he  was  such  an  expert  he  made  a  zigzag  course  going 
down  and  also  jumped  the  coaster  off  a  bank  about 

—190— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

four  feet  high,  which  none  of  the  other  coasters  dared 
to  tackle.  Being  very  heavy,  however,  he  nearly 
smashed  the  coaster.  Upon  seeing  this  wonderful 
jump,  and  the  zigzag  course  he  had  taken  going  down, 
the  twins  went  wild  with  excitement  and  decided  that 
they  would  have  him  take  them  down  when  he  got 
back.  So  upon  his  arrival  at  the  starting  point,  they 
both  asked  him  at  once  to  give  them  the  pleasure  of 
the  same  kind  of  a  ride  he  had  taken.  He  refused, 
saying:  "We  will  break  your  coaster.  I  alone  nearly 
smashed  it,  and  if  we  all  get  on  and  make  the  same 
kind  of  a  jump,  I  am  afraid  you  will  have  to  go 
home  without  your  coaster." 

"Well,  take  us  down  anyway,  and  if  we  break  it 
our  father  will  make  us  another  one."  So  he  finally 
consented.  When  they  were  all  seated  ready  to  start, 
he  told  them  that  when  the  coaster  made  the  jump 
they  must  look  straight  ahead.  "By  no  means  look 
down,  because  if  you  do  we  will  go  over  the  cut  bank 
and  land  in  a  heap  at  the  bottom  of  the  gulch." 

They  said  they  would  obey  what  he  said,  so  off 
they  started  swifter  than  ever,  on  account  of  the  ex 
tra  weight,  and  so  swiftly  did  the  sleigh  glide  over 
the  packed,  frozen  snow,  that  it  nearly  took  the  twins' 
breath  away.  Like  an  arrow  they  approached  the 
jump.  The  twins  began  to  get  a  little  nervous.  "Sit 
steady  and  look  straight  ahead,"  yelled  Stone  boy.  The 
twin  next  to  Stone  boy,  who  was  steering  behind,  sat 
upright  and  looked  far  ahead,  but  the  one  in  front 
crouched  down  and  looked  into  the  coulee.  Of  course, 

—191— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      /.      SIOUX 

Stone  boy,  being  behind,  fell  on  top  of  the  twins,  and 
being  so  heavy,  killed  both  of  them  instantly,  crush 
ing  them  to  a  jelly. 

The  rest  of  the  boys,  seeing  what  had  happened, 
hastened  to  the  edge  of  the  bank,  and  looking  down, 
saw  the  twins  laying  dead,  and  Stone  boy  himself 
knocked  senseless,  lying  quite  a  little  distance  from 
the  twins.  The  boys,  thinking  that  all  three  were 
killed,  and  that  Stone  boy  had  purposely  steered  the 
sleigh  over  the  bank  in  such  a  way  that  it  would 
tip  and  kill  the  twins,  returned  to  the  village  with  this 
report.  Now,  these  twins  were  the  sons  of  the  head 
chief  of  the  Buffalo  Nation.  So  at  once  the  chief  and 
his  scouts  went  over  to  the  hill  to  see  if  the  boys  had 
told  the  truth. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  bank  they  saw  the  twins 
lying  dead,  but  where  was  Stone  boy?  They  looked 
high  and  low  through  the  gulch,  but  not  a  sign ^  of 
him  could  they  find.  Tenderly  they  picked  up  the 
dead  twins  and  carried  them  home,  then  held  a  big 
council  and  put  away  the  bodies  of -the  dead  in  Buf 
falo  custom. 

A  few  days  after  this  the  uncles  were  returning 
from  a  long  journey.  When  they  drew  near  their 
home  they  noticed  large  droves  of  buffalo  gathered 
on  their  side  of  the  range.  Hardly  any  buffalo  ever 
ranged  on  this  east  side  of  the  range  before,  and  the 
brothers  thought  it  strange  that  so  many  should  so 
suddenly  appear  there  now. 

When  they  arrived  at  home  their  sister  told  them 
—192— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

what  had  happened  to  the  chief's  twins,  as  her  son  had 
told  her  the  whole  story  upon  his  arrival  at  home 
after  the  accident. 

"Well,  probably  all  the  buffalo  we  saw  were  here 
for  the  council  and  funeral,"  said  the  older  brother. 
"But  where  is  my  nephew?"  (Stone  boy)  he  asked  his 
sister.  "He  said  he  had  noticed  a  great  many  buffalo 
around  lately  and  he  was  going  to  learn,  if  possible, 
what  their  object  was,"  said  the  sister.  "Well,  we  will 
wait  until  his  return." 

When  Stone  boy  left  on  his  trip  that  morning, 
before  the  return  of  his  uncles,  he  was  determined  to 
ascertain  what  might  be  the  meaning  of  so  many  buf 
falo  so  near  the  home  of  himself  and  uncles.  He  ap 
proached  several  bunches  of  young  buffalo,  but  upon 
seeing  him  approaching  they  would  scamper  over  the 
hills.  Thus  he  wandered  from  bunch  to  bunch,  scat 
tering  them  all.  Finally  he  grew  tired  of  their  cow 
ardice  and  started  for  home.  When  he  had  come  to 
within  a  half  mile  or  so  of  home  he  saw  an  old  shaggy 
buffalo  standing  by  a  large  boulder,  rubbing  on  it  first 
one  horn  and  then  the  other.  On  coming  up  close 
to  him,  the  boy  saw  that  the  bull  was  so  old  he  could 
hardly  see,  and  his  horns  so  blunt  that  he  could  have 
rubbed  them  for  a  year  on  that  boulder  and  not  sharp 
ened  them  so  as  to  hurt  anyone. 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  grandfather?"  asked 
the  boy. 

"I  am  sharpening  my  horns  for  the  war,"  said  the 
bull. 

—193— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

"What  war?"  asked  the  boy. 

"Haven't  you  heard,"  said  the  old  bull,  who  was 
so  near  sighted  he  did  not  recognize  Stone  boy.  "The 
chief's  twins  were  killed  by  Stone  boy,  who  ran  them 
over  a  cut  bank  purposely,  and  the  chief  has  ordered 
all  of  his  buffalo  to  gather  here,  and  when  they  ar 
rive  we  are  going  to  kill  Stone  boy  and  his  mother 
and  his  uncles." 

"Is  that  so?    When  is  the  war  to  commence?" 

"In  five  days  from  now  we  will  march  upon  the 
uncles  and  trample  and  gore  them  all  to  death." 

"Well,  grandfather,  I  thank  you  for  your  informa 
tion,  and  in  return  will  do  you  a  favor  that  will  save 
you  so  much  hard  work  on  your  blunt  horns."  So  say 
ing  he  drew  a  long  arrow  from  his  quiver  and  strung 
his  bow,  attached  the  arrow  to  the  string  and  drew 
the  arrow  half  way  back.  The  old  bull,  not  seeing 
what  was  going  on,  and  half  expecting  some  kind  of 
assistance  in  his  horn  sharpening  process,  stood  per 
fectly  still.  Thus  spoke  Stone  boy : 

"Grandfather,  you  are  too  old  to  join  in  a  war  now, 
and  besides  if  you  got  mixed  up  in  that  big  war  party 
you  might  step  in  a  hole  or  stumble  and  fall  and  be 
trampled  to  death.  That  would  be  a  horrible  death, 
so  I  will  save  you  all  that  suffering  by  just  giving  you 
this."  At  this  word  he  pulled  the  arrow  back  to  the 
flint  head  and  let  it  fly.  True  to  his  aim,  the  arrow 
went  in  behind  the  old  bull's  foreleg,  and  with  such 
force  was  it  sent  that  it  went  clear  through  the  bull 
and  stuck  into  a  tree  two  hundred  feet  away. 
—104— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

Walking  over  to  the  tree,  he  pulled  out  his  arrow. 
Coolly  straightening  his  arrow  between  his  teeth  and 
sighting  it  for  accuracy,  he  shoved  it  back  into  the 
quiver  with  its  brothers,  exclaiming:  "1  guess,  grand 
pa,  you  won't  need  to  sharpen  your  horns  for  Stone 
boy  and  his  uncles." 

Upon  his  arrival  home  he  told  his  uncles  to  get  to 
work  building  three  stockades  with  ditches  between 
and  make  the  ditches  wide  and  deep  so  they  will  hold 
plenty  of  buffalo.  "The  fourth  fence  I  will  build  my 
self,"  he  said. 

The  brothers  got  to  work  early  and  worked  until 
very  late  at  night.  They  built  three  corrals  and  dug 
three  ditches  around  the  hut,  and  it  took  them  three 
days  to  complete  the  work.  Stone  boy  hadn't  done 
a  thing  towards  building  his  fence  yet,  and  there  were 
only  two  days  more  left  before  the  charge  of  the  buf 
falo  would  commence.  Still  the  boy  didn't  seem  to 
bother  himself  about  the  fence.  Instead  he  had  his 
mother  continually  cutting  arrow  sticks,  and  as  fast 
as  she  could  bring  them  he  would  shape  them,  feather 
and  head  them.  So  by  the  time  his  uncles  had  their 
fences  and  corrals  finished  he  had  a  thousand  arrows 
finished  for  each  of  his  uncles.  The  last  two  days 
they  had  to  wait,  the  uncles  joined  him  and  they  fin 
ished  several  thousand  more  arrows.  The  evening  be 
fore  the  fifth  day  he  told  his  uncles  to  put  up  four 
posts,  so  they  could  use  them  as  seats  from  which  to 
shoot. 

While  they  wrere  doing  this,  Stone  boy  went  out 
—195— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

to  scout  and  see  how  things  looked.  At  daylight  he 
came  hurriedly  in  saying,  "You  had  better  get  to  the 
first  corral;  they  are  coming."  "You  haven't  built 
your  fence,  nephew."  Whereupon  Stone  boy  said: 
"I  will  build  it  in  time;  don't  worry,  uncle."  The  dust 
on  the  hillsides  rose  as  great  clouds  of  smoke  from  a 
forest  fire.  Soon  the  leaders  of  the  charge  came  in 
sight,  and  upon  seeing  the  timber  stockade  they  gave 
forth  a  great  snort  or  roar  that  fairly  shook  the  earth. 
Thousands  upon  thousands  of  mad  buffalo  charged 
upon  the  little  fort.  The  leaders  hit  the  first  stockade 
and  it  soon  gave  way.  The  maddened  buffalo  pushed 
forward  by  the  thousands  behind  them;  plunged  for 
ward,  only  to  fall  into  the  first  ditch  and  be  trampled 
to  death  by  those  behind  them.  The  brothers  were 
not  slow  in  using  their  arrows,  and  many  a  noble 
beast  went  down  before  their  deadly  aim  with  a  little 
flnt  pointed  arrow  buried  deep  in  his  heart. 

The  second  stockade  stood  their  charge  a  little 
longer  than  did  the  first,  but  finally  this  gave  way, 
and  the  leaders  pushed  on  through,  only  to  fall  into 
the  second  ditch  and  meet  a  similar  fate  to  those  in 
the  first.  The  brothers  commenced  to  look  anxiously 
towards  their  nephew,  as  there  was  only  one  more 
stockade  left,  and  the  second  ditch  was  nearly  bridged 
over  with  dead  buffalo,  with  the  now  thrice  mad 
dened  buffalo  attacking  the  last  stockade  more  fur 
iously  than  before,  as  they  could  see  the  little  hut 
through  the  openings  in  the  corral. 

"Come  in,  uncles,"  shouted  Stone  boy.  They  obey- 
—196— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

ed  him,  and  stepping  to  the  center  he  said:  "Watch 
me  build  my  fence."  Suiting  the  words,  he  took  from 
his  belt  an  arrow  with  a  white  stone  fastened  to  the 
point  and  fastening  it  to  his  bow,  he  shot  it  high  in 
the  air.  Straight  up  into  the  air  it  went,  for  two 
or  three  thousand  feet,  then  seemed  to  stop  sudden 
ly  and  turned  with  -point  down  and  descended  as 
swiftly  as  it  had  ascended.  Upon  striking  the  ground 
a  high  stone  wall  arose,  enclosing  the  hut  and  all  who 
were  inside.  Just  then  the  buffalo  broke  the  last 
stockade  only  to  fill  the  last  ditch  up  again.  In  vain 
did  the  leaders  butt  the  stone  wall.  They  hurt  them 
selves,  broke  their  horns  and  mashed  their  snouts,  but 
could  not  even  scar  the  wall. 

The  uncles  and  Stone  boy  in  the  meantime  rained 
arrows  of  death  into  their  ranks. 

When  the  buffalo  chief  saw  what  they  had  to  con 
tend  with,  he  ordered  the  fight  off.  The  crier  or 
herald  sang  out:  "Come  away,  come  away,  Stone  boy 
and  his  uncles  will  kill  all  of  us." 

So  the  buffalo  withdrew,  leaving  over  two  thou 
sand  of  their  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field,  only  to 
be  skinned  and  put  away  for  the  feasts  of  Stone  boy 
and  his  uncles,  who  lived  to  be  great  chiefs  of  their 
own  tribe,  and  whose  many  relations  soon  joined  them 
on  the  banks  of  Stone  Boy  Creek. 


—197— 


MYTHS      /.      OF      /.      THE      .*.      SIOUX 

THE  UNKTOMI  (SPIDER),  TWO  WIDOWS, 
AND  THE  RED  PLUMS 


There  once  lived,  in  a  remote  part  of  a  great  for 
est,  two  widowed  sisters,  with  their  little  babies.  One 
day  there  came  to  their  tent  a  visitor  who  was  called 
Unktomi  (spider).  He  had  found  some  nice  red 
plums  during  his  wanderings  in  the  forest,  and  he  said 
to  himself,  "I  will  keep  these  plums  and  fool  the 
two  widows  with  them."  After  the  widows  had  bid 
den  him  be  seated,  he  presented  them  with  the  plums. 

On  seeing  them  they  exclaimed  "hi  nu,  hi  nu  (an 
exclamation  of  surprise),  where  did  you  get  those 
fine  plums?"  Unktomi  arose  and  pointing  to  a  crim 
son  tipped  cloud,  said:  "You  see  that  red  cloud?  Di 
rectly  underneath  it  is  a  patch  of  plums.  So  large  is 
the  patch  and  so  red  and  beautiful  are  the  plumS  that 
it  is  the  reflection  of  them  on  the  cloud  that  you  see." 

"Oh,  how  we  wish  some  one  would  take  care  of 
our  babies,  while  we  go  over  there  and  pick  some," 
said  the  sisters.  "Why,  I  am  not  in  any  particular 
hurry,  so  if  you  want  to  go  I  will  take  care  of  my 
little  nephews  until  you  return."  (Unktomi  always 
claimed  relationship  with  everyone  he  met).  "Well 
brother,"  said  the  older  widow,  "take  good  care  of 
them  and  we  will  be  back  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  two  then  took  a  sack  in  which  to  gather  the 
plums,  and  started  off  towards  the  cloud  with  the 
crimson  lining.  Scarcely  had  they  gone  from  Unk- 
tomi's  sight  when  he  took  the  babies  out  of  their 
swinging  hammocks  and  cut  off  first  one  head  and 
—198— 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

then  the  other.  He  then  took  some  old  blankets  and 
rolled  them  in  the  shape  of  a  baby  body  and  laid  one 
in  each  hammock.  Then  he  took  the  heads  and  put 
them  in  place  in  their  different  hammocks.  The  bodies 
he  cut  up  and  threw  into  a  large  kettle.  This  he 
placed  over  a  rousing  fire.  Then  he  mixed  Indian 
turnips  and  arikara  squash  with  the  baby  meat  and 
soon  had  a  kettle  of  soup.  Just  about  the  time  the 
soup  was  ready  to  serve  the  widows  returned.  They 
were  tired  and  hungry  and  not  a  plum  had  they. 
Unktomi,  hearing  the  approach  of  the  two,  hurriedly 
dished  out  the  baby  soup  in  two  wooden  dishes  and 
then  seated  himself  near  the  door  so  that  he  could 
get  out  easily.  Upon  the  entrance  of  the  widows, 
Unktomi  exclaimed :  "Sisters,  I  had  brought  some  meat 
with  me  and  I  cooked  some  turnips  and  squash  with 
it  and  made  a  pot  of  fine  soup.  The  babies  have  just 
fallen  asleep,  so  don't  waken  them  until  you  have 
finished  eating,  for  I  know  that  you  are  nearly 
starved."  The  two  fell  to  at  once  and  after  they  had 
somewhat  appeased  their  appetites,  one  of  them  arose 
and  went  over  to  see  how  her  baby  was  resting. 
Noting  an  unnatural  color  on  her  baby's  face,  she 
raised  him  up  only  to  have  his  head  roll  off  from  the 
bundle  of  blankets.  "My  son !  my  son !"  she  cried 
out.  At  once  the  other  hastened  to  her  baby  and 
grabbed  it  up,  only  to  have  the  same  thing  happen. 
At  once  they  surmised  who  had  done  this,  and  caught 
up  sticks  from  the  fire  with  which  to  beat  Unktomi 
to  death.  He,  expecting  something  like  this  to  hap 
pen,  lost  very  little  time  in  getting  outside  and  down 


MYTHS      .'.      OF      .'.      THE      .'.      SIOUX 

into  a  hole  at  the  roots  of  a  large  tree.  The  two 
widows  not  being  able  to  follow  Unktomi  down  into 
the  hole,  had  to  give  up  trying  to  get  him  out,  and 
passed  the  rest  of  the  day  and  night  crying  for  their 
beloved  babies.  In  the  meantime  Unktomi  had  got 
ten  out  by  another  opening,  and  fixing  himself  up 
in  an  entirely  different  style,  and  painting  his  face  in 
a  manner  that  they  would  not  recognize  him,  he 
cautiously  approached  the  weeping  women  and  in 
quired  the  cause  of  their  tears. 

Thus  they  answered  him:  "Unktomi  came  here 
and  fooled  us  about  some  plums,  and  while  we  were 
absent  killed  our  babies  and  made  soup  out  of  their 
bodies.  Then  he  gave  us  the  soup  to  eat,  which  we 
did,  and  when  we  found  out  what  he  had  done  we 
tried  to  kill  him,  but  he  crawled  down  into  that  hole 
and  we  could  not  get  him  out." 

"I  will  get  him  out,"  said  the  mock  stranger,  and 
with  that  he  crawled  down  into  the  hole  and  scratch 
ed  his  own  face  all  over  to  make  the  widows  believe 
he  had  been  fighting  with  Unktomi.  "I  have  killed 
him,  and  that  you  may  see  him  I  have  enlarged  the 
hole  so  you  can  crawl  in  and  see  for  yourselves,  also 
to  take  some  revenge  on  his  dead  body."  The  two 
foolish  widows,  believing  him,  crawled  into  the  hole, 
only  to  be  blocked  up  by  Unktomi,  who  at  once 
gathered  great  piles  of  wood  and  stuffing  it  into  the 
hole,  set  it  on  fire,  and  thus  ended  the  last  of  the 
family  who  were  foolish  enough  to  let  Unktomi  tempt 
them  with  a  few  red  plums. 

—200— 


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